Memories

A Revealing Dream

Chapter 5

He left without another word, not any words were able to follow as he was on a whole new level.

 Caleb walked around for hours, finally stopping at a local convenience store to buy a pencil and notebook, which he used to draw her over and over. None were exact but he could care less, it was something. He perched himself on a nearby park bench and allowed the pencil to copy the lines from his memory. It wasn’t until he heard a crash did he glance upwards.

 A man stood aiming a gun at the sales clerk of the convenience store. Immediately Caleb dropped his notebook and pencil and returned to the store. As the bell dinged announcing his presence the robber turned his gun and pointed it directly at Caleb.

 “Whoa there, buddy,” Caleb said, “its okay, I’m just here to help.”

 “STAY BACK!” the robber roared back.

 “Oh, don’t worry. I won’t be coming any closer.”

 “I mean it! I WILL KILL YOU!” the robber blinked rapidly and was sweating profusely.

 Caleb called back to the salesclerk, “Are you going alright back there, sir? No extra holes?”

 “No, I’m fine,” the man called back shakily.

 “SHUT UP! EVERYONE! I CALL THE SHOTS HERE!”

 “Yes, you are the one holding the object that can end a life immediately.” The robber paused at this but still swung the gun between the two men. “Do you know what I think? I don’t think you want to hurt anyone. I think you are just desperate. Am I right?”

 “OF COURSE I’M DESPERATE! GODDAMNIT! DOES ANYONE DO THIS FOR FUN?!”

 “No, you’re right. No one wakes up one day and decides to rob their local convenience store. So what is it? Gambling debt? Drug money? Who are you in deep with? Maybe I can help you.”

 The robber snorted amusingly, “I am not a gambler, I have never used drugs and I don’t owe anyone!”

 “Then what has driven you to this moment?”

 “My wife!” the robber howled before taking a breath and continuing, “She’s dying. I need money to save her. If she had just married the man she should have maybe she would have been perfectly healthy by now!”

 Caleb suddenly grew solemn, “What does she have?”

 “It’s a heart defect. If we had the money we would have already been able to afford it. But I’m just a construction worker. I don’t have that kind of money. Now she’s going to die, and the only way I can stop it is to do this. It may not be right, but out of all the people in the world she deserves to live. She can’t die now.”

 “I get it. Completely. I know exactly where you are coming from. Let’s say she does get the surgery, but you go to jail for armed robbery, who will take care of her while you’re in a cell? Or what if she found out right now that you were planning to rob this place, would she approve?”

 “I don’t care. As long as she was alive, that would be all that mattered,” the robber’s voice faltered though.

 Caleb caught the mistake and kept the man focused on him, “No, you do care. You want her to be proud of you, you want her to love you. But you don’t want to live without her and it scares you to even think about it.” He could see the face beneath the hood, how scared the man was and how his lower lip trembled at mention of living without her. “You don’t have to do this. You can find another way to save her, one that she can be proud of.”