Wrong Place, Wrong Time

  I groggily got out of the front seat and inserted the pump into my car to fill up the gas tank. My stomach started to rumble, so I dragged my sister out of the car and left it unattended to walk into the gas station. The man at the counter waved at us, but I ignored him to find food: a Slim Jim, Kit Kats, and an energy drink. My sister had gone to the bathroom, which was near the cashier. The cigarettes were at the counter, so I started to walk from the back of the store. I could hear a voice yelling at the front but didn't think too much of it. I pulled out my wallet to see if I had enough money to pay, but something stopped me.

“Hey, open up the drawer!” 

I dropped to the floor and took a deep breath before peeking down the aisle to see a gun against the side of the cashier's head and a black bag sitting on the counter. I pulled myself back around the corner and dropped the items I was carrying. My hands were shaking, and I realized the rest of my body was shaking with them. I reached down to my pocket for my phone, but it wasn’t there. I had left my phone in my car.

“PUT THE MONEY IN THE BAG!” I heard the robber say. I peeked around the corner and saw the cashier fearfully loading up the bag with money. “HURRY IT UP!” the robber said impatiently.

“I’m trying,” the cashier said, “just don't shoot me!”

"Well, if you don’t hurry it up, I’ll pull the trigger!” The cashier finished up and looked up at the robber. A sound must have caught his attention, however, for the robber started looking around. I pulled myself back against the wallets and other random accessories before he could see me.

“Is there someone else here?” he asked the cashier. 

I held my breath and started praying; I didn’t want to die today. I had a whole life ahead of me. Things to do, people to see.

“No,” the cashier said almost immediately, too quickly. 

“You’re lying,” he said.

“No, no, there's no one else here!”

I exhaled as I heard him shuffling to leave. Suddenly a gunshot rang through the store and I heard a thud as the body hit the ground. I closed my eyes and jumped as a sound came from the front of the store: the sound of a door opening and a small voice calling out. Lisa. I gasped and slapped my hand against my mouth, fearing he would hear me. 

“Well hello, sweetheart,” the robber said to her, clearly shocked by her age.

“What was that sound?” she asked, “It was loud.”

“Oh it is a loud sound, but it’s a good sound. It’s the sound of going somewhere happy.” He was twisting it all up for her. I stood up and started running towards my sister. 

“Don’t shoot her—”

My voice was cut off by a gunshot and the sound of something behind me being hit. He had missed me but shot the slushy machine. The liquid began to spill out all over the floor.

“I’m unarmed; I don’t mean any harm. Just please don’t shoot her.” I tried to reach for her but the robber grabbed her too quickly and held the gun against her head. She looked at me pleading and crying, tears rolling down her cheeks.

“You take one step closer, I'll shoot her!”

“Okay, okay, okay, I won’t; just don’t shoot.” I took a few steps back, raising my hands over my head, showing I would do anything to keep her alive. In the distance, I heard the sound of sirens and saw flashing lights turn into the gas station. I looked at the robber, a smug grin on my face.  “Hear that? You're going to prison.”

“Not yet,” he said, and pulled the trigger. I heard the sickly mix of the gunshot, Lisa’s scream, and my shouting. The robber turned to me, and I had the instinct to duck as he shot straight for my head. I heard him running out of the store and the police shouting before the gas station store door closed, muffling the voices and cries.

I scurried over to Lisa on the ground and started to shake her, even though I knew she was long gone. I let my lungs take over and let it all out. Lisa’s bloodied head was cradled in my lap, and soon a police officer came in. He came into the store with his face full of remorse as he took in the situation: the cashier dead on the floor and Lisa’s lifeless body in my arms.

She was all I had, and now she was gone. I knew this was going to change things. I doubted for the better, but I was sure in that moment that I'd see a lot more of what I saw that day in the future.