Grocery Store Nightmare

The faint sound of people talking, to the calmness and ghostly silence, was suddenly disrupted by a thundering sound. Out of nowhere a bullet soared in front of me, I crashed into shelves of cans causing chaos all throughout the grocery store. People were running frantically, crawling to the nearest hiding place, saying their last prayers for a sign of hope. And the only thing that was on my mind was “What is going on?” In that moment, I just wanted to run to my mother’s comforting arms. However, I was alone, no one to comfort me or protect me. The “supposedly” fast trip to the grocery store for milk turned into a nightmare, and I didn’t know what to do or how to react. I decided the best option was to find a way out but, there was only one window and it was on the opposite side of the store. The possibilities of me being shot were tremendously high, so I decided to hide under a table for safety until there was chance for me to run without them noticing. As soon as I saw a chance to run, I sprinted, I felt my bones pop from the sudden movement. I took a leap of faith knowing I could get shot in a matter of seconds, but what kept me going was seeing my little sister again. I pictured her soft rosy cheeks with golden freckles and at that instant, I told myself I was going to do everything in my power to survive this horrible experience. When I finally got near the window, I peeked my head outside to see what was going on.

All I could see were tall, buff men wearing black masks, their eyes were narrow, rigid, giving a gleamingly mad stare at everyone that made eye contact with them. They were dressed in all black from top to bottom, they were holding a gun as if they were ready to shoot anyone at any moment. The only tactic they used was violence, to them it was the only way to get what they wanted. They were grabbing people from the grocery store by their feet, dragging them to a black truck. As they were being dragged they left a trail of blood from their faces gliding against the cement street. I felt my heart starting to race, I could hear and feel it pounding beat by beat, my hands started to shake, trembled so intensely, that I had to put my hands in the bottom of my legs to stop them from shaking. I realized that the men could find me hiding under the window any second, I was afraid that I would be the next victim to be killed. All of a sudden, a man came inside the grocery store shooting the aisles and everything he came in contact with. Hearing the gunshots and fearing for my life I stretched my hand out to grab the side of the window handle but little did I know it was broken. The sharpness of the glass cut my fingers instantly. I felt the rush of blood travel to my fingers but I wasn’t going to give up due to a slight cut. I placed my feet on a shelf in order to use it as a step to get out of the window but I couldn't reach. Suddenly I could feel someone wrapping their hands around my waist pushing me up to help me get out of the window but as I glanced back to thank whoever it was all I saw was a blur of someone's face. Once I was out of the grocery store I ran as fast as I could, the steady thumps of my footsteps echoed in my ears and I felt a flood of sweat roll down my forehead. Minutes later, I realized I was far away from home.

I had run so fast fearing for my life that I didn’t realize where I was going, the houses were bigger here and they had brighter lights outside. I knew I was in nicer area than mine since at home no one had their lights turned on due to the high cost of electricity but there was no turning back. It was either to go back to the dreadful experience or continue my path into an unknown location, so I continued moving forward deep into the neighborhood I wasn’t aware of. Tired and sleepy, my eyes felt heavier by the moment, they were slowly closing and the urge to go to bed was the only thought present. There was a bench on the side of the road but at that point, I didn’t care that I was lost I just wanted to sleep. I laid down on the bench but the rough wood felt like nails scratching my back and the coldness made me shiver uncontrollably. I managed to somewhat comfort myself and my mind slowly faded into darkness. Suddenly I was awakened by a slight tap on my shoulder, I didn’t want to see who it was because I feared that it was going to be the men in all black, it made me question if I was safe even though I was nowhere near the grocery store. I turned around and I saw a little girl, around my age, standing next to me with a grin on her face. She invited me to her house since she saw me from the window of her room. She seemed nice by the softness of her voice and her lovely smile so I followed her to her house since she seemed to pose no threat.

As soon as I walked into the house the environment was completely different compared to the environment at my house, everyone was gathered in the living room conversing and laughing. Their voices sounded as if they were all talking at once, harmonious yet different sounds coming together to create one as a whole. The girl told me her name was Mariana and she offered me food, as soon as she mentioned the word food I started to picture the famous enchiladas my mom makes on special occasions. She told me to follow her to the backyard since the food was there, as we got closer to the door that leads us outside to the backyard I heard soft music playing. The music grew louder and louder, when we were outside I realized it was a party. In my eyes it looked like there was hundreds of people outside, they were enjoying themselves like the night was endless. People were dancing, eating, having conversations, and little kids were running around. I felt a burst of happiness and I giggled because what a day it has been, from the fear of being killed from strange men in the grocery store to being at a party the same day. It was a strange way to end the day. I turned my head to the left and saw a woman hugging her daughter, she gave her a kiss in the cheek while tickling her and seeing them reminded me of the way I hug my sister when I come home from school. I pictured putting my hands around her and seeing her smile as if it was the first time she saw me in a while, she lets her smile widen into a brilliant grin that her dimples slowly show. From that moment, I knew I was free from harm and I was going to see her again.