A Bomb Hoax

• Marcus Kumar, Grade 5
• Short Story
• 2017

The day had just commenced a few minutes ago, Mr Jacob Lee, had started his day the usual way where he had so much of paperwork that it covered his face.
While, he was riffling through his paperwork, his phone buzzed. Irate by the jazz music playing, he clicked the answer button to see who's calling. "Hello?" he said curtly because he doesn't want unnecessary pleasantries. A low pitched voice answered, "Mr Jacob Lee, it's a pleasure talking to you," he said. Me Lee replied, "Who's this?" The strange voice exclaimed, "It doesn't matter. Someone planted a bomb in your bank, it will defuse at eleven a.m." Then the line went dead.
Mr Lee was shocked beyond words. He didn't know what to do at this stage. He decided to compose himself, and said to himself that he had dealt with troubleshooting before. He quickly decided to call the Police immediately. He grabbed his phone and punched triple zero. Mr Lee tried to persuade his customers to return to the bank another day. However, they refused to budge and bombarded him and his staff with incessant questions and chaos was gradually building up.
After some time, the men in blue have finally arrived to the premises and have cordoned off the bank's front and back door. The Police changed into some special green bomb suits and were holding some metal detectors. The Chief Police told Mr Lee to get all of his staff and customers out of the premises. Mr Lee did as told.
The uniformed men left no stone unturned and searched every nook and cranny for the bomb as the clock was ticking away. There was five minutes left but no sign of the bomb. If the bomb is not found, the bank will turn into ashes.
Outside, there was a huge crowd formed. Most of the people close their eyes in contorted agony while others muttered some fervent prayers. Some braver ones kept their eyes peeled on the clock and actually did a countdown of the final seconds to eleven a.m. "5, 4, 3, 2, 1!"
Silence. Nothing happened. Another minute of wait and still nothing happened. A few people said it was a hoax and started to loosen up and divert in separate ways. Mr Lee and the chief got the staff back inside then suddenly his phone rang. He clicked the answer button. The familiar strange, low pitched voice gave an evil chuckle saying, "Enjoyed the show?" Finally Mr Lee recognised the voice to be that of his former employee Tommy O' Brian, who was charged for embezzling the bank's funds. Mr Lee replied, "You're..." he was cut mid- sentence.
He told the chief in an excited manner that he knew who was behind this hoax. While Mr Lee and his staff restore a semblance of normalcy, the Police were on their way to hunt down the ex convict Tommy O'Brian.