The man at the party store

Ellen Wilson had been jogging for a good ten miles when she had a sudden thirst for water so she knew that there was a party store just ahead so she just kept running. She came to a crosswalk and on the other side of the intersection was the party store.

She had one thing in mind and that was to get a bottle of water and jog the rest of the way home. But evidently, it wasn't meant to be, because as soon as she got the water bottle out of the cooler, she felt something hard poke her in the middle of her back, then she heard a real low voice speak.

"Don't bother checking out, just sit down in front of the counter." the gunman told Ellen.

She done what she was told and took a drink of her water. Then she took a look at the man who held the gun in his right hand. He wore jeans that had holes in the knees and a dark blue hoodie. He seemed to be very nervous cause he kept looking out the windows as if he was expecting someone and he was pacing very nervously.

Ellen felt her iPhone vibrate in her back pocket but she just ignored it because she didn't want anyone to know she had a phone on her.

The store owner thought to himself," If I can just get on the other side of the counter, I can step on the police alarm."

"What do you think you are doing, old man?" The gunman asked as he pointed the gun at him.

"I just thought I would turn on the air conditioning, there is a switch under the counter." The old man said.

" I want all that cash that is in your till," The gunman said and shaking the gun in the old man's face nervously..

"Well, here it is then, take it and get out of here." The old man said.

"Yup, that's exactly what I'm going to do as soon as I get all that money." The gunman said.

The old man put all the money fro the till in a cash bag and handed it to the gunman, the gunman grabbed the bag out of the old man's hand and ran for the door and started running out to the parking lot and was about ready to get on his motorcycle when a police cruiser pulled into the parking lot blocking the entrance. The policeman got out of the car and had a gun pulled and yelled at the gunman, "Get down on the ground. get down on the ground."

The gunman got down on the ground and the policeman handcuffed him, and made him get on his feet and walked him over to the police cruiser and opened the rear door of the car and told the gunman to have a seat. The gunman slid into the seat and the police shut the door.

The other policeman went in the store and announced that the gunman had been apprehended. He asked Ellen if she was all right and she said she was fine. He walked up to the counter and saw the old man sitting on the floor with his head resting on his hands.

The officer told the old man that the gunman had been apprehended so he could get back to work. The old man thanked the officer and asked Ellen if she wanted to pay for her water. She said yes and took out the money and placed in the old man's hands.

She jogged the rest of the way home and when she got to the steps of her two story house, she sat down on the top step and took inventory of her day. It could have turned tragic if the police hadn't came. She closed her eyes and prayed a prayer of thanks for protecting her.