Writing Exercises from Serving up a Story

Writing from the Heart

Writing from the heart is what we should all aspire to do. Write with passion. Write something from your past that moved you. Try to make your readers "feel" the passion or intensity.

My hands shook uncontrollably as I tried to open the safe. I was kneeling in front of it. My heart was pounding so hard I thought it was going to burst. If only I could remember. I had to focus. I had to concentrate, but the barrel of the gun pressed up against the back of my head was making it impossible to do so. I tried to turn the handle, but it wouldn't budge. I had gotten it wrong again. That was my second failed attempt. Every mistake was bringing me closer and closer to death, I was sure of it, as I could hear the tension of the mans voice growing with each passing moment.

"Open the safe!!" Said the man in the ski mask as he nudged my head forward with the gun.

"I-I-I'm trying." I said. My voice quivering. I quickly tried to dry my hands on my slacks before attempting again. Left 20, right 46, left 14, damn it, wouldn't open.

"Do you want to die?!! Open the damn safe!!"

What was the combination? Why can't I remember? My mind was blank. Think. Think.

Bang! The gun went off and my hands now trembled so bad that I had to press them on the floor to keep them still. Part of a ceiling tile rained down on me and I jumped as each little piece touched me. I was a bundle of nerves.

The cashier who had remained silent up until now, started crying. She was laying on floor of the office

"Just open the safe Mike!" Said the other employee that was laying on the floor next to the cashier.

"What do you think I'm doing? I'm trying!" I yelled back in a voice I barely recognized. I swallowed hard, my mouth was dry.

I had to focus. I took a deep breath in, a lame attempt to calm myself before trying again. Left 20, right 46, left 15, click the safe opened.

"Get the fuck down!" Came the command as I was forcefully pushed down.

I laid there with my eyes closed. I could hear him rifling through the safe and then close its door. He took two steps.

BANG!

I jumped involuntarily. What was going on? He got the money. Why the shot?

BANG!

Again I jumped. My heart stopped momentarily. Tears streamed freely. No witnesses. He must have killed the other two. I said my goodbyes.

BANG!

A/N: I was a manager at a restaurant at the time. Nobody was hurt. The robber had shot the monitor, camera, and the DVR, but I thought for sure that he had shot the other two employees. He was caught in about an hour.