Crime of the Century
They wore masks. Just like the rest of us.
“ Nobody moves; no one gets hurt,” one of them said.
Another brandished his weapon — something foreign, hard to make out — and shouted it loudly into the air. A warning to us all.
Before the shot rang out, another waved his weapon — a more familiar model, domestic — and shouted the same command across the room. Soon it was a cacophony of shrieking echoes bouncing off each other.
Confusion filled the airways. Screens everywhere blazed in hyperbolic blood.
Most of us froze. Some of us ducked and covered our ears.
“ Nobody moves; no one gets hurt”
Some died from sheer terror. A man clutched his heart and fell to the floor. Few of us tried to understand what was happening.
It all happened. So fast.
Most of us followed their instructions to the letter. We were terrified. What else could we do? Just following orders.
We surrendered. Everything.
Their weapons had such bombastic & polished voices. We were hypnotized by their gleaming barrels.
“ Nobody moves; no one gets hurt”
Struck. And stricken.
They didn’t give us time to think. To remember. To reason. So we didn’t.
One of us, bold and ridiculous, wielded their own weapon. Pulled the trigger, but only a click and a whisper were heard.
Some scoffed. Others paused. Most didn’t even notice. Just didn’t have the range…
Another tried theirs, but it was drowned out by the burgeoning blasts.
By the Fear.
As you know, they took it all. Some will say we were cowards. Others will call us heroes.
And you can say you were there.
by Juliet Annerino ©2020
