SMALL JOB, BIG CRIME

      There it was. A strong steel door which had a lot of number of locks on it but that never stopped me from breaking it down. I am a fully qualified construction worker and had the knowledge of all the physics I had been taught. I pulled out the tool that always did the job, the chisel. It took me more time than I anticipated but it worked in no time.  It made quite a noise when I broke open the door and I didn’t bother checking if anyone was in the parking lot that heard the sound.

     The room I was about to enter was dark and smelly. It smelt of imported fish and meat and wasn’t pleasant to smell. With my left palm covering my mouth, I made myself into the second room only to find out that the door into the other room was locked too. It was a weak wooden door so it was a piece of cake to break down. I backed myself up and took aim of the area of the weakest part of the door with my leg and kicked the door open. I had a big smile on my face as I watched all the stuff in the shop. At that moment I felt like a 6 year boy starring at the window of the bakery shop. I walked over to the counter and broke open the cash register with the same chisel and took out all the cash from it. The sight of 20 pound bills and 50 pound bills made me smile a bit broader. I knew I had hit the jackpot and got out the shop. I brought my car from the still quite empty road to the deserted parking lot and parked the car near the back door and got out many bags which were lying at back passenger seat. When I headed back into the shop I filled the bags up with everything I could find. Chocolates, drinks especially alcohol, cigarettes and lots of other edible stuff……..BUT SUDDENLY I HEARD FOOTSTEPS BEHIND MY BACK AND THEY WERE LOUD AND HEAVY. I TURNED BACK WITH SHOCK TO FIND MYSELF STARRING FACE TO FACE AT A LARGE FIGURE HOLDING A RATHER LONG THIN OBJECT ABOVE HIS HEAD AND HE WAS HEADING STRAIGHT TOWARDS ME.

With the sudden shock, I grabbed hold of the object that he was holding and wrestled him to the floor. He shouted at the top of his voice and tried to gain control of the long object which felt to be a large walking cane. I left the stick and went for the bags as I could not wrestle him as he was getting stronger. He must have alerted someone or maybe the police and that was on running constantly in my mind. I need to get out of there as soon as possible. But he blocked my path and guarded the back door with his life. He then started waving the stick in the air, swearing at the top of his voice and was heading straight to me for the second time. This time he was even faster than I had anticipated and he succeeded in whacking the stick over my head. The next thing I know I lay helpless on the floor with blood dripping from my forehead.

        He then went for me again as if to make sure I was out cold. I threw the nearest object I could find in my right hand and threw it towards him. It hit him right in the chest and made him lose his balance. Something went wrong. He was holding his chest as if was hiding something from me. He tripped over the bags of alcohol and hit the floor with a sudden thump. I was on my feet in a jiffy and stood over his helpless body. He was in pain as he was clutching his chest. I grew closer to his face and realized he was just an old man. A feeling of guilt and shame crept inside me and would never leave my body. It felt as though it made my insides writhe and squirm. Never have I felt the shame in my life. I didn’t intend this to happen and didn’t want anyone hurt. The sound of police sirens was ringing in my ears and at that moment ran out of the shop empty-handed. This chilled me and it brought me into a sweat as a dashed to my car in the parking lot. My hands were trembling as if someone had put both my hands in cold water. My hands started to struggle to get hold of my car keys from my pocket and I could feel the fear in me. There wasn’t much time for last minute plans and so I jumped into my car and sped off disappearing into the cold fog that was about to die out.