Fast Action

By C. LaRene Hall

I already had a blog written, but after a frightening Friday afternoon, I changed my mind. Three hours after the incident, my writing head kicked in. I was too terrified to think of the incident until then.

During the last half hour of work, I went to the bank to deposit a check. I pulled to the drive-up window, because I’m too lazy to go inside the building, so I opted to stay in my car. I opened my window and put the deposit into the tray. Then the action started. A police officer pulled his car at an angle on the road in front of the drive-up lane, so nobody could get out. He jumped from the car, drew a gun, aimed down the street, and yelled, “Hold it right there.”

A black cloud settled over my entire being. Finally, I heard the sirens screaming all around me. Another police car pulled behind the first. I sat there wondering, “Is the bank being robbed?”

People lined the sidewalks, and I thought, “You are sure dumb.”

I couldn’t imagine anyone wanting to watch activity that involved guns. Then I watched as other people took pictures, while I just wanted to be as far away from here as I could get.

Everything inside the bank seemed normal, except the teller helping me, was extra slow, and didn’t come back to the window for a long time. When she returned I asked, “Do you have your doors locked?”

“No, we don’t. We’re okay. A high speed chase ended in front of our bank.”

That was a relief, but I still wanted to leave. No cars were behind me so I backed out, and exited to the rear. What a chicken I was. I didn’t want to know what was going on, I just wanted to be gone.

Now, as I sit here hours later I’m angry that my curiosity didn’t get the best of me. I could have written a good story, but I was too scared to watch the action.