Part of my life experience at gunpoint.

I believe that there is a thin line between being brave and being a coward, and this line is simply determined by how we act when we face an obstacle. We are always left with two choices: either we face it, or we run away from it. Now, why am I saying all this? It’s because of two incidents that have happened to me, so it’s a true-life story, but I will be sharing only one.

The first one was when I was held at gunpoint. I remember vividly that it was during one of my exam periods, and I was on my way home around 7 or 8 pm. This was a route that I am very familiar with, so I was totally off guard, and on getting to the sharp corner, I was held at my waist level by 2 guys asking me to give them my phone. Initially, I became very angry and fought to be free by pushing them away. Immediately I was free, I had a better look at the two guys, but only then did I realise that 3 other guys were waiting at the far end. I tried to turn and run away, but the ground was sandy, and I lost my footing. Before I could get my footing, my phone fell out of my pocket, and those guys spotted it too. They rushed to get the phone, but I managed to push the two guys away, picked up the phone, then turned off the light and threw it into a bush of tall grass. This action of mine upset the guys, and they descended upon me and started beating me up. I tried to protect my eyes by closing them, and I folded my body in a foetal position to receive the beating. After some minutes, one of the guys held me up, hit his gun on my head, and asked me to run. I ran for some distance before looking back, then I tried to stand my ground by asking them to come one by one if they are very sure of themself. The guy scared me away by pointing his gun at me, and I ran to a shop to take cover in case he wanted to shoot.

At the shop, I met some guys, and I told them briefly what happened. One of the guys explained that he had observed those guys' movement and decided to wait here in the shop until they leave. I urged the guys to let's go storm that area in numbers, as that was the only route home. So we gathered ourselves and headed towards the boys, and immediately they saw us coming, they ran away. But before heading towards them, we had decided to call the guys in my lodge to also come, so we can trap those boys. Now, back to the present, those boys ran toward the guys from my lodge and informed them that the police were coming, so at the mention of the police, everybody scattered around, and that was how they escaped. My lodge guys started asking how I was and what happened. I explained the whole incident, and they were just surprised that I was okay. I quickly had to use one of the guy's phones to call my own phone, and I traced the sound and finally found my phone.

Now, this whole experience happened in the blink of an eye, and this is literally the first time I have tried recalling the experience. So I ask myself, was I really brave or a coward, or was it all adrenaline rush? And it could also be that it was my mother’s prayer that had protected me. However, irrespective of what came over me that day, one thing I am certain of is that it has made me a braver and stronger person.