Qui pro quo blew me away!

My creative mind was jubilant during a winter day out in London at the start of the Christmas festive break in 2008 as it brought drama and confusion to my imagination. The cold weather was extreme that day as I decided to go to the bank to withdraw some cash and keep out the winter chill for a little while. A gregarious and sociable man wearing a santa's costume greeted me at the door and followed me into the bank, and I could not help but thinking about reindeers jumping over chimneys and all the rest that accompany Christmas. Little did I know that I was about to face up to something very unpleasant. I was way outside on the periphery of what was going on as I noticed that everyone in the bank had their arms up except me and two other men wearing Santa's costumes.  It was not too long before I realised what was taken place and I had no option but raise my arms rapidly in the air at the command of putting them up. It was a hold-up. A sudden jerk brought goose pimples to my skin and my stiff hair rose in fear of being shot at. I felt a heavy blow at the back of my head as I fell to the floor bumping my face against a desk on my way down and I then noticed that a swelling on my head was risen to a lump. For better or for worse I remained on the floor thinking about nuts roasting on an open fire; it appeared, however, that this armed robbery had Christmas all wrapped up for me since I was fearful for my life. Having said that, I am not utterly enamoured with the Commercial side of Christmas but I enjoy its atmosphere and the trimmings. Then I thought about my very first girlfriend and realised that she was still floating my dinghy even though I allowed my best friend to pip me to her heart many years ago. Indeed, she used to drive me crazy with lust and she had the same libido as me and always in the mood to go beyond conventionalities and all the rest. The thing is trying to tie up the loose ends of the past is not that easy and it often leads to passion burnout. Nevertheless, it must be said that my best friend was capable of making up all sorts of charmingly unimaginative tales of seductions and perchance that was the main reason for him being such a hit with the ladies. Anyhow, I was beginning to get a bit frustrated by the lack of progress and decided to shout at one of the clerks behind the counter from my positioning on the floor to give the robbers what they wanted. In penny-pinching times these sort of things are bound to happen as money makes the world go round and never more than at Christmas. Next to me still on the floor there was a young lassie who was suffering with excruciating stomach pains which she thought to be caused by having eaten an alien meal the night before at a Martian restaurant in Croydon. It was all good in the hood but there was little I could do to help her plight. Practicalities were ruling my mind that day and most of them were Christmas related but I was not mighty optimistic about the time to come since that incident at the bank was a slightly surreal one and it would have been the last christmas hat on the shelf I would have picked. I was bored with all the drama and I have the spirit to fight it and in all that state of confusion, I grabbed one of the absent-minded robbers by the leg and try to bring him down to my level to disarm him. A shot and sudden sharp feeling of pain in my heart I felt as my little dreams took flight and there and then my life was through. The ghost had left my body and I was dead. In the end the thieves were caught at the exit door as the police were keeping the bank under surveillance. It was a truly fearless act of bravery but I was shot dead in the tale.

P.Figueras