"G-gimme all your money." He demands softly, but both Carmen and I are rooted to the spot, too frozen to move…when was the last time I blinked? My eyes start to burn and tear up.

"GIMME YOUR ***** MONEY!" He shouts and I flinch, snapping out of my paralysis. I reach deep into my pocket and pull out the two folded hundred dollar bills.

Pointing his shaky gun at me, he reaches forward and snatches it from my hand. Looking at it and apparently satisfied with the amount, he jams it into his pant pocket and directs his weapon to Carmen, who is still frozen in fear. "A-a-all right now Chica…whattaya got?" His voice cracks with stress. I wonder if this is his first robbery.  Maybe he’s a junkie who needs the money for crack. Maybe he’s part of a gang and robbing two innocent lesbians is a good initiation ploy. Maybe he’s just doing it for kicks. Whatever it is, that gun isn’t stable. Much like our rookie mugger here, it could go off at any moment.

I lean in to Carmen and whisper, "It’s okay, just reach into your pocket and give him your money. It’s okay, it’s all right."

I can see that he’s getting impatient as the gun begins to shake even worse than before.

"COME ON MUCHACHA I AIN’T GOT ALL ***** DAY!"

"Carmen" I try to soothe, and it seems to work, because she’s reaching into her pocket suddenly. She pulls out her money and outstretches her hand.

I hear a door open and a light turns on off to my left. A nosy little suburbanite.

"Hey!" The man shouts from his door and I know that something bad is going to happen soon, because the gunman flinches.

There’s a second where everything seems to slow down. I feel as if the muscles in my limbs have severed their connection with my brain. It’s the only way I can understand why I’m shoving Carmen back and stepping in front of her. Then, there are two loud bangs, a gust of wind and I feel as if I’m falling and there’s no bottom.

It’s dark…pitch black…but it’s loud. There’s a slow, horrid thumping in my head, filling my ears and blocking everything else out. I can’t breathe. It feels like I’m drowning. Why is it so dark? A voice breaks through the sound.