It was a simple beginning to a beautiful day in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The dry morning air brought a wealth of warmth to my tired skin. “Today is a day of opportunity,” I thought. I would hopefully be entering the work force after a long battle with unemployment. I was excited because my days were filled with nothing but boredom and my mind was occupied with nothing but despair. Hopefully, today would be the day that I left my past behind me. Just three years ago, I was an up and coming astrophysicist at a nearby scientific lab.
My theories were respected by top scientists from around the globe. I was only twenty-five at the time, and I was making six figures a year. I felt as if humanity was lucky to have me because of all the ground-breaking discoveries I would be making in my near future. One could say | was a very over-confident young person. I frequently evidenced this by showing up to work late after long nights of partying and enjoying my time as a wealthy bachelor. But, I always knew that alcohol would never affect my ability to outwit any situation that I came across.
As I drew myself out of bed the morning of my job interview, I looked out of my apartment window, only to notice some children driving around in toy cars. This sent shockwaves through my mind as I could only think of the horrific accident that I was responsible for, that cost an innocent person their life. This prompted me to grab a bottle of whiskey, only to find myself drinking half of the bottle’s contents. The consumption of this amount of alcohol minutely affected me as I am a frequent drinker.
After I carried out my morning tasks in preparation for my nterview, I got in my car and proceeded along the route to my destination. Much to my surprise, there was a police roadblock ahead of me. In response to this discovery, I made a rapid turn to the right in order to evade the roadblock. This unplanned right turn would send me on a very different route to my interview. Shockwaves from my terrible accident would again run rampant through my mind, because this was the fourth anniversary of the day that I killed a person while driving drunk. A wall of unrelenting depression hit me like an emotional train.
My thought process had again gone awry. I then noticed that it was time to fill up my gas tank. I went in to pay with the little bit of cash that I had. A worker said, “it surely is a blessed day, sir. ” “It is a day of opportunity,” I responded. While filling up my tank, I noticed that my windshield looked slightly dirty so I decided to clean it off. Once I was done cleaning I noticed a glimmer of light reflecting from the depths of the trash can where I had to dispose of my paper towels. I curiously uncovered it, leading me to the discovery of a fully loaded handgun.
The wall of depression that formerly housed itself inside my thoughts was countered with a wave of opportunity. Someone that was guilty of something obviously tried to discard the weapon here. This meant, if I were to carry out an illegal act with this very gun, it surely wouldn’t be traced back to me. It didn’t take long before I had the whole bank robbery planned out. I would be robbing the bank in which I used to go to when my career was still intact. Therefore, I knew the general layout of the building, as well as the exits.
My plan was brilliant as I managed to escape a place that was swarming with police. I am currently driving my ’97 Monte Carlo down a rural Mexican road. Dusk has just transitioned into night. I can hear a train plugging in the distance, however, I find myself being unconcerned with anything but my thoughts. I am thinking to myself about what my life could’ve been. Just as I am approaching the rail road crossing it is quickly becoming evident that if I keep my current pace, I will surely collide with the train that is bounding down the tracks. The train’s headlight is blinding now. I have never felt so alive.