The Game

A Story by Handwritten

Not your typical bank robbery

Waiting in line never got you anywhere until this day. It was the end of the month, and your balance was dwindling. Running to the bank on your lunch hour, you must have sensed it coming. At least that’s how you remembered it.

The gunfire erupted from your right. Screams could be heard all around. You froze for just a moment before your body caught up with you and fell to the ground. You looked around and saw the fear in the eyes of the others.

“Alright, everybody stay on the ground. This won’t take long. My name is Huckleberry Finn and my friend with the Uzi is Tom Sawyer. Let’s all have some fun together.”

Finn spoke with a cool calmness that did little to soothe the worries of his hostages. Their eyes were trained on the guns. You saw a woman next to you with her young daughter. The girl looked confused. The mother was scared for both of them.

You looked back towards the men and saw Sawyer leading one of the bank workers in to the back. Finn stood on a table overlooking the remaining people. He was strangely excited. He did a little dance every so often as if a performer on stage.

“While we’re waiting, I thought we could play a game. It’s called ‘I Spy, I Don’t Die’.” A woman in the back made a shrieking cry. Finn jumped off his table and made his way to her. He gently stroked her hair and assured her, “Don’t be worried, darling. I won’t pick you first.”

Back up on his table, he announced the rules of the game. “I’m going to call out a color of an object in the room. The first person to correctly guess this object gets to live. Oh, and there will only be three winners since we have a tight budget on time. If you have any dreams left to fulfill you better get guessing.”

Shallow murmurs from the hostages filled the room. No one spoke up though. Not even you. You were trying desperately to think of some way to stop this lunatic. You thought you could be some kind of hero, but this was no Saturday morning cartoon. So, the game continued.

“We need a volunteer.” He slowly scrolled his head to each side of the crowd. “You really don’t want me to have to pick someone.”

“What happens if we guess wrong?” One brave soul decided to speak up. He was a middle-aged man with a gut showing through his dress shirt.

Finn started to laugh. “Now you get to play and find out.” His laughter subsided as he drew his gun on the man.

“I spy something of which the color is blue,” he said cheerfully in a sing-song manner. He looked all around excitedly as if he was playing along.

The man panned the room with a bleak expression on his pallid face. The sweat beaded from his neck and gathered in his shirt collar. You played along too. Hoping you could help him find it. You were foolish enough to think you could save him. But really you just wanted to save yourself, didn’t you? You wanted to win first prize.

“It could be that sign right there.” The man pointed in front of him.

“It could be your life if you’re wrong.” Finn said in an almost believably sympathetic way. The man started to sob and the tears joined the sweat amassing in his collar.

“I don’t know. Just. Please. Don’t kill me!” The man begged as the bullet bore through his skull. The bank lobby filled with screams. Almost everyone was crying now. But not you. You were bereft of emotion. A hero wouldn’t let a man die right in front of him and do nothing. A hero would act.

“Incorrect” Finn said quickly and coldly. Then, the smile returned to his face. “Who shall be our next contestant?”

He marched around the lobby, tossing his gaze upon the floorgoers. Everyone was silent now, trying their best not to get his attention. He hopped over bodies and stopped right next to you. He sat down Indian-style on the floor.

“Would you like to play a game?” He said softly. But he wasn’t speaking to you. The little girl started to cry as he brushed the hair out of her eyes. He had his back to you, but you could see the horror reflected in her face. Her mother pleaded with Finn to leave the girl alone, but he had no interest in the audience; just the contestant.

“What’s your favorite color, sweetie?” He patted her back as she continued to cry. “How about yellow? The color of the sun. Do you ever want to see the sun again?” He grabbed the back of her dress and lifted her clean in the air. He walked over to the table and deposited her onto it.

“You’re on the stage now, sweetie. Don’t let us all down.” The mother came running up behind him screaming wildly. He turned and struck her down swiftly before returning his attention to the girl. “You have 10 seconds to find me something yellow or you lose.”

Something clicked in your head. Perhaps the fact that you were about to witness the death of a little girl triggered it. Maybe it was just the fear that you would be next. You bolted at Finn while he had his back to the crowd. He took longer to notice you coming. You heard the gunshot just as you tackled him to the ground. The gun flew out of his hand and was quickly recovered by a nearby bank employee.

Finn was knocked unconscious from the fall. You checked yourself for a wound but found none. Then you heard the scream from the mother. The blood dripped from off the table. You ran to the girl and checked for a pulse. She was clinging to life.

You scooped her in your arms and ran outside while others called for help. Once you reached the street you collapsed to your knees. Now you started to cry. You wanted to be a hero and this is what you got instead.

Your whole body was numb but you felt a sudden pressure on your arm. You looked down and saw her hand barely holding onto you. There was life in her eyes.

At that moment, she was the real hero. She saved you.