What Brings You In Today?

Narrator 1
“Everybody get down NOW” I scream through my black ski mask. “I’ve got a gun” I warn, but I leave out the fact that it isn’t loaded. People fall to the ground like leaves in autumn, fearing for their lives. I never meant for it to get this far, but I had no other choice. Alexis has been in and out of the hospital for months now, Leukemia. She still smiles, somehow, even though she weighs much less than any six year old should, and her long blonde locks have disappeared. I walk up to the marble counter where I shout at a teller to get up. She obeys and I demand $10,000, just enough to cover some medical expenses, and keep my baby healthy for a little longer. I scan the room when something catches my eye. There is a woman with a butterfly barrette in her hair, its silver with small blue gems on the wings that shine under the fluorescent lights. I know that barrette, I bought that barrette. It dawns on me that I am not just holding some random people hostage, but I am also holding my wife hostage. I fear she will somehow know it’s me and I begin to feel ashamed. If only I earned more money, was a better provider for my family, a better father to my daughter, then maybe I wouldn’t be in this situation.
Narrator 2
I need to do something. I hate leaving Alexis at the hospital by herself, but I remember seeing a sign at the bank that said they were hiring. I quit my job a year ago so I could be with my daughter at all times while she goes through hell. My husband works so hard, 12 hour shifts at the hospital doing maintenance work. He is an amazing provider, but with Alexis’ medical bills, we need more money. I’m next in line when a man storms in and demands we get down. I listen, but for some reason I am not afraid. Maybe it is because I am going through one of the most horrific things a mom can go through, that the idea of dying doesn’t scare me. The robber goes up to some innocent teller and orders her to give him some money. When she disappears into the back of the bank, the man looks around and I notice him staring at me. I wonder if maybe I remind him of someone he knows. I start to think about this man’s family, and how he must be really desperate to rob a bank. I start giving him a life in my head, and suddenly I’m sympathizing with the robber. I feel sorry for him, that his circumstances are so bad; he felt like his only options was to rob this bank.
Narrator 3
I have a theory, if you ever wake up in the morning and really don’t want to go to work. You shouldn’t go. I’m not talking about the typical everyday “I’m tired and I don’t want to get out of bed,” no, I mean pit of your stomach, voice inside your head telling you not to go. So when I woke up this morning and felt that pang of dread about going to the bank, I knew I should have listened. I usually listen, but today I went to work anyway. My shift had just started when a man came in and made us all get down on the ground. I wanted to scream, but no sound would come out. My fear was so overwhelming that I could do nothing but lay there, silent, on the bank floor. As bank employees, we’ve had training in situations like these, but in the moment everything I learned just disappeared. Out of all the tellers, the man walked up to me and told me to get him ten grand. I was scared that if I didn’t, he would kill me. I went to the bank vault and started filling a bag, stuffing it with cash. I told my mom about my theory once. She called me crazy and said people can’t sense things like that. I think, if I get out of here alive, I could make her agree with me now.