The Ink Well Creative Nonfiction Prompt #50 // "When his heart stops beating "

I was in my room playing a video game when I heard my mum calling my name repeatedly. Mum, you called me, right? She replied yes and reminded me that I had to go to the bakehouse that afternoon to place an order so that we could have reasonable quantities of bread to sell the next day.

Bakehouse were on indefinite strike. The strike was a result of an increase in the price at which flour was sold, and whoever did not place the order a day before would not have goods (breads) to sell the next day.

The bakehouse was about three (3) miles from my house, so I quickly grabbed my bicycle and set off for the journey. After riding for about two (2) minutes, I stopped at the second street to visit my best friend James.

James is my childhood friend; we were so close that we did everything together. He hopped on the bicycle, and we rode towards the bakehouse. Riding on the bicycle with James has always been amazing.

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We arrived at the bakehouse at exactly 5:30 p.m., placed the order, and left the bakehouse immediately. After riding for about six(6) minutes, we heard multiple gunshots, we were so scared and confused that James suggested we should ride towards a warehouse not too far from us for safety. We quickly dropped the bike opened the gate of the warehouse and ran into it.

Unfortunately for us, we ran in the wrong direction. The warehouse is the robbery scene. we ran directly into the armed robbers and at that point, it was too late for us to turn back.

Lie down one of the armed robbers shouted at us, and we did exactly what he said. The leader of the gang said, "You all should cooperate with us or something nasty will happen now". One of the robbers said "Boss kill someone" It had been so long that I set my eyes on the dead body(s), he said.

My heart skipped immediately after he said that, we all were shaking and sweating, a man close to James tried to run through the back door, and he was shot dead on the spot. We shouted please don't kill us, James and I held tight to each other. James was frightened and said to me, holler let's run, I told James while crying profusely that it would be too risky to run now, and he replied that lying next to a dead man was killing him and that he couldn't bear it anymore before I knew what was happening, James stood up he was about running when I heard a loud sound of a gun "bang!!"

At the loud sound of the gun, James fell, and I asked myself if James was shot dead. I crawled down to where James was, I carried him and I kept shouting James! James!! James!!!, he did not respond, I placed my ear on his chest to know if his heart was still beating, but his heart had stopped beating. I asked myself what happens "when his heart stops beating"? Does it mean James is dead?

While shouting and mourning James, I heard the robbers arguing and almost fighting, saying why would you shoot that small boy?

I didn't bother listening to their conversations because I was still imagining if James was dead or not. At the sound of the police siren, which indicated that police were nearby, the gang leader ordered the robbers to move it, and they left the scene in a hurry.

While crying and holding James, the police officer rushed into the warehouse and helped everybody to a safe place. An officer said to me, hey young man, your friend is alive but unconscious, he will be okay soon. Really? I asked the officer and he replied yes.

James and some wounded people were rushed to the nearest hospital for immediate treatment. I quickly grabbed my bicycle to catch up with the ambulance.

We arrived at Saint Michael Hospital at about 7:02p.m, it's already getting dark. James was placed in a ward while I was sitting next to him on the bed. After some minutes, he woke up and was shouting my name repeatedly.

I quickly held him tight and said to him, am here with you James, you are okay now, but you have to stay calm. After about eight(8) minutes, a nurse walked in and said to me that some people had been waiting for us at the reception and that I had to come to see them now, Upon getting to the reception, it was my parents and James' mum.

I ran to them while crying profusely. Dad held me tight and asked, 'Are you okay?' I replied while nodding my head. I was still in shock, and after about ten (10) minutes, James walked out of his ward looking very okay. I ran to him to hug him. I hit him repeatedly for almost getting himself killed, and he said he was sorry that he could not help lying beside a dead body. James' mum screamed, 'Dead what?'

A doctor walked towards us and informed our parents that we needed to go for some tests tomorrow and that we are okay for now.

We all left the hospital in James' mum's jeep, while my bicycle was placed in the trunk.

James' mum dropped us off in front of our house and zoomed off. I walked in, looking calm but restless. I responded very quickly to any strange sound around me. It took weeks before we were able to get over it, but my experience on that fateful day couldn't leave my mind until this very moment.

Thanks 🙏 for stopping by, I appreciate the time spent reading my write-up, gratitude.