Scrivenings of the King-Beyond-The-Wall

Stolen Artifacts #5

It all happened so fast... the gun firing into the ceiling to get everyone’s attention... the shouting... the screaming and the crying and the chaos... I had never been involved in a bank robbery before, and I used to fantasize that I would be some bold man of action, taking decisive steps to resolve the situation. And yet here I was, hiding in the bathroom, just waiting for it to be over.

I could still hear the robbers yelling at bank employees and customers out there, ordering them to stay quiet and keep still while they forced the tellers to put cash into their duffel bags, and pressured the bank manager to open the vault. I just prayed that none of them would come into the bathroom and find me here, curled up in the handicapped stall, my head tucked between my legs as I crouched between the toilet and the wall.

For the umpteenth time, I wished it would all just be over. That the guys out there would get what they were asking for so we could all go home. How long did it take to unload cash from a drawer anyway? Or open the vault? This was a small bank in a small town; there couldn’t be that much cash warranting very much security. Just give them what they were asking for so everyone can go on with their lives and put this behind them.

I resisted the urge to throw up, even though the toilet was conveniently right there. I may be cowering in a bathroom stall, but I wasn’t about to let everyone know that I’d lost my lunch to nerves. That was something I didn’t need my buddies harassing me about for the rest of my life. Still, when I heard footsteps approaching the bathroom from the hallway outside, my stomach did a little flip.

The door creaked open and I heard footsteps enter the bathroom.

“You, Julian... you in here?”

It was Bryan. As afraid as I was of this whole ordeal, I was more afraid of letting Bryan down. He had always been there for me, and I owed him my literal life more than once over. I collected my wits and stood up.

“Yeah,” I said, my voice shaking. “Be right there.”

When I stepped out of the stall, I came face to face with Bryan, still wearing the devil Halloween mask he had worn into the bank earlier this morning.

“You good?” Bryan asked.

“Uh huh. Just needed a minute.”

“Okay, well, get back out there bro. We’re almost done and then we’re home free. And don’t forget to put that back on,” he said, nodding to my own devil mask, which was resting on the counter. “Don’t want the cops showing up at our door because they saw your face on the bank’s CCTV.”

I nodded and Byan left. I washed my hands, then splashed some water on my face before dabbing it off with some paper towels and putting the mask back on again. I grabbed my nine millimeter from the waistband of my pants and headed back into the lobby of the bank.

I prayed that this whole ordeal would be over soon and that this would be the last bank robbery I’d ever have to be a part of.


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(555 words)


Prompt: You’re in the middle of a bank robbery – hiding in the bathroom.