By Yanran Yixiao

A “Brave” Girl

By Yanran Yixiao

A robber managed to rob a bank with a gun. The police arrived when he was about to escape. Soon he was forced into a corner. All at once, he caught a boy as his hostage.

Seeing it, the police immediately tried to calm him, guaranteeing that everything can be settled through negotiation. Then, with his gun pressing against the boy’s head, the robber shouted: “Give me a car, or I will kill him.”

The police replied: “We only have police cars, by which you cannot make your escape. I have to ask for instructions to find a civil car for you. So please give me some time.”

Right this moment a white car made a turn at an intersection in the distance and came over slowly toward them. The robber changed his mind and took the boy to the road. As the car came near, he raised his gun,yelling at the car: “Stop, stop!”

Then something unexpected happened. The car didn’t stop.Moreover, it accelerated suddenly toward the robber. Frightened by this, he threw the gun with a cry and rushed to the roadside, rolling and crawling. Meanwhile, the car swerved to avoid the boy and crashed into a guardrail.

The police came up and subdued the robber instantly. It was not until the robber was caught that the crowd realized what had happened and applauded.

The police picked up the gun only to find it a toy gun. Thanks to the buffering of the guardrail, the car was not badly damaged. Then, the door opened, a young woman stumbled out.

A policeman looked at the brave girl with approval. He gave her a thumb up: “But for your help, we can’t seize him. But...” the policeman added seriously: “It is too dangerous to do so. Fortunately it wasn’t a true gun.”

The girl who had hardly recovered from the shook kept patting her chest until she calmed down. Then she replied with a tremble in her voice: “Sorry, Sir. I…I stepped on the gas by mistake.”

(From Short-short stories Monthly, issue 6, 2017. Translation: Lu Xin)

一个劫匪持枪抢劫银行得手，仓皇逃命时，被闻讯赶来的警察逼到了街角。情急之下，劫匪劫持了一个男孩。

见此情形，警察忙安抚劫匪，劝他不要冲动，一切好商量。劫匪用枪抵住男孩的头部，扯着嗓子大叫：“给我一辆车，不然我就杀了他。”

警察答应说：“我们只有警车，给你你也逃不掉。这样吧，我请示上面给你调一辆民用车，不过你得给我时间……”

正在这时，一辆白色轿车从远处路口转过弯，缓缓地朝这边开来。劫匪眼前一亮，不再理会警察，拖着人质来到路上。等小车开得近了，劫匪猛地抬起枪对着小车声嘶力竭地大喊：“停车，给我停车！”

令人意想不到的事情发生了。小车非但没停，反而突然加速，呼啸着朝劫匪撞过来。劫匪被这突如其来的阵势吓蒙了，哀嚎一声，丢掉手里的枪，连滚带爬扑倒在路边。与此同时，小车猛地一个转向，躲过男孩，撞到交通护栏上停了下来。

警察冲上去，以迅雷不及掩耳之势制伏了劫匪，围观的群众这才醒悟过来，齐声鼓掌。

警察捡起那把枪，发现是把仿真玩具手枪；再看那辆车，由于护栏的缓冲，受损并不严重。这时，车门打开了，一个年轻女子哆哆嗦嗦地下了车。

警察赞许地看着眼前这位见义勇为的女汉子，冲她竖起大拇指：“姑娘，谢谢你帮我们，才能抓住劫匪。不过……”警察话锋一转，说：“你这样做也太危险了，幸亏只是把玩具手枪。”

姑娘惊魂未定，不住地拍着胸口，待情绪稍稍平复，才颤声说道：“对不起，警察同志，我……我踩错油门了。”

（摘自《小小说月刊》2017年第6期）

女汉子撞劫匪

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