Lift Incident

By AT
It was a sweltering hot afternoon. The Sun blazed mercilessly onto the Earth. I was waiting at the lift lobby at my block of flats after school, exhausted after a day of strutting around, as proud as a peacock showing off my new necklace.

I received the necklace as a birthday present from my father the day before. A small crystal heart-shape pendant hung from the silver chain. I loved it with all my heart, as it was the prettiest thing I had ever laid my eyes on.

While I was daydreaming about who else I could show off my necklace to, I entered the lift and pressed the lift button with the number twelve on it, for the floor on which I lived. Just as the lift doors were about to close, a man in his early thirties dashed into the lift. I did not take much notice of him and just continued to build castles in the air. Little did I know what was about to happen.

I started to get impatient as the lift began its slow ascent to the twelfth floor. I could not wait to get out of the stuffy lift and go home to soak myself in the bathtub.

Suddenly, I noticed the man eyeing me. I could not help feeling scared as cold fingers of fear crept up my spine. I composed myself and just glared at him defiantly.

Just then, the man brandished a small knife and snarled at me, “Your money or your life!”

I panicked, and with trembling hands, I took out my pink Ocean Pacific wallet.

He snickered and said, “Is that the best you can do?”

He pressed the knife against my neck as I reached into my pocket again to get out my MP3 player, silently praying for the lift to go faster.

“Bing!” The lift suddenly came to an abrupt stop and the doors slowly started to open, though we were only on the eighth floor. Old Aunty Jane appeared and smiled when she saw me but froze when she saw that I had a knife pressed to my neck. She gave an ear-piercing scream before trying to hobble away for help, but before she could reach the end of the corridor, she fainted.

The robber cast one last look at me and just as he was about to run off, he snatched my necklace of my neck! That did it. I was furious. I forgot all my fears as I pounced on him and knocked the knife from his hand. I started clawing him and shouting for help. Bill, old Aunty Jane’s son, heard the commotion and came out. He was shocked to see me hanging on to a man, but he quickly took his phone out of his pocket to dial for the police before helping me pin down the man.

Luckily, Bill was much stronger and younger than the robber, enabling him to pin down the man with ease. At this juncture the man tried to pick up his knife to cut Bill, but I soon knocked the knife out of his hand.

The rest of the events happened very quickly. Three police cars and an ambulance arrived. The police went to scene of the crime and frog-marched the man to the police car before pushing his head down and lowering him into it. They also returned all my things to me.

The robber snarled at me, “I will get you for this.”

Feeling very brave as I was surrounded by the policemen, I laughed loudly and triumphantly replied, “We will see about that!”

After that, I went home for the bath that I had been longing for. Aunty Jane was taken to the hospital in the ambulance and thankfully, she was discharged the following day.

That experience was a truly horrifying one for me. The image of the man snarling at me was deeply etched in my mind. Ever since that incident, I have not worn any jewellery. I have also grow to be a more humble person, and I now understand the saying “Pride comes before a fall”.