Suitcase

``Sir! Stand down! Put your hands in the air slowly!'' The police officer ordered as he trained his service pistol at Emmanuel, who looked on at him quizzically.

``Officer, what is going on?''

``I SAID, sir, stand down NOW!'' The police officer shouted back. This time, the back-up police officers from behind him had already advanced as well, their firearms drawn. Three of them were holding pistols, while two of them were holding combat shotguns. All around them, many had already sneaked away from the scene, and those who were still around were ducking to the ground as low as they can to avoid the attention of the law enforcement officers.

Reluctantly, Emmanuel slowly raised his hands high into the air, his suitcase right in front of him.

``Step BACK from the suitcase sir!''

``Why would I--''

``I SAID step BACK from the SUITCASE SIR!'' The officer leading the advance was clearly getting annoyed, was armed and was very very dangerous.

Emmanuel had no idea what was going on. He had been at the airport's lounge area, waiting as usual for his flight out of the United States to Abu Dhabi. He was literally minding his own business when he was suddenly yelled at by the airport police officer, which quickly escalated to the current showdown. It seemed surreal to be treated like some kind of criminal, and his fear of the sudden police incursion was countervailed by his indignation of not being in the wrong no matter how he looked at it.

``Look, officer, there has to be some kind of mistake,'' Emmanuel said, trying to reason as he complied with the police officer's demands of stepping backwards from his suitcase.

``Shut UP SIR!'' The police officer shouted as the team advanced cautiously forward. ``Keep your hands where we can see them!''

Emmanuel sighed. Since he wasn't told to stop, he kept taking small steps backwards, all the while staring at the lead officer, while simultaneously eyeing the business end of the pistol that was aimed at him, and trying his hardest to ignore all the other firearms' aim.

``Stop right THERE sir!'' The police officer barked. ``And keep your hands up where we can see it!''

Emmanuel stopped and kept his hands raised up high. He was suddenly swarmed and subdued by the three pistol-wielding police officers, while the two shotgun-wielding ones trained their firearm at his face. Emmanuel's face was pressed into the ground as his arms were forcibly hand-cuffed behind him.

Further back, the lead police officer radioed to the operations room. ``Suspect apprehended. Requesting bomb squad to verify suspected suitcase bomb.''

(Based on an exercise generated by WriteThis – 07-Apr-2014 20:35:29)