At first, she felt terrified. Yet, she still held onto the hope that she could survive by some large or small miracle. As she stood there, she became immersed in her thoughts about what had led her to this desperate moment in her life.

It all began on a day so ordinary that she could barely recall it. Except for the fact that on her way home, she stopped at her bank to deposit a check. And just as she was about to leave, she turned around to say goodbye to her friend Teresa, who worked at the bank as a teller. And she saw Teresa’s eyes suddenly open wide with terror.

Helen turned quickly around to see why Teresa looked so frightened. And at that moment, Helen knew her life would never be the same again. In front of her stood three men wearing masks on. And each was holding a gun and was pointing them at the tellers. The tallest one yelled out, ” the first person who hits the alarm button will be dead before they take their finger off the button. And then I will kill everyone in the bank.”

Helen had no clue how one should act in such a situation where their very life was at risk of ending at any moment. And where they didn’t have any control over what may or may not happen.

Then one of the customers who was standing in line attempted to call the police on their cell phone. And one of the robbers shot him in the middle of his forehead. And he dropped to the cold, tile floor like a bag of sand, slowly and then a thud when his bloody head hit the floor.

 About thirty people, including the tellers, were in the main room of the bank. And they all gasped as one. She had never seen anyone murdered before in her entire life. And she was seventy-one years old. She felt filled with anger, hatred, and fear all at once.

The bank robber who shot the man screamed out, “I want all the remaining employees to get out here immediately and hit the ground. If anyone attempts to call the police or get out the door, they will die in the same way that this fool did. If anyone texts the police or anyone else, I will shoot that person and the person standing closest to them. Is that understood?” We are going to collect all of your cell phones, so put them down next to your feet. No funny business. Do you understand?”

Everyone nodded their heads, and then everyone took out their phones and put them down on the floor. All the employees came marching out and laid down on the cold, hard tile floor. There was muffled crying from several people that were lying prostrate. “Everyone better shut up, or this will be the last day of your lives. Your lives mean nothing to me. It will be like swatting an annoying fly. Do you understand?”

Everyone nodded and then covered their heads with their arms folded over them. About half of them began saying a prayer, including a few who had been devout atheists for most of their lives.

And then the same man who had threatened their lives said, ” I want the manager of the bank to come forward, and you better not lie or try to manipulate me. A rotund man with a wisp of dark hair came forward. He was visibly shaking, and he took several deep breaths and said,” My name is Howard Hudson. I’m the manager of this bank. And my first obligation is to keep my employees and my customers safe. I will do whatever you tell me to do to that end. Do not injure or kill anyone else. I will cooperate in any way that I can.”

“I’m glad you understand how serious this situation is and will cooperate. Because if you do not cooperate completely, I will start by shooting you in both legs, and then I will start killing your employees one by one. I know that early this morning, you had a large amount of cash delivered to the bank.”

I want you and the assistant manager to go to the vault and retrieve that money. You will be accompanied by one of my men. Be aware that this man is a trained killer. And if either one of you tries anything. You will never take another breath, you will never see your family or loved ones ever again. Do you understand? In addition, I want all the doors locked from the inside and put a notice on the front doors that the back is temporarily closed. Do not try to get anyone’s attention outside the bank. Or I will shoot the assistant bank manager. I believe his name is Oliver Winchester.”

“Yes, I understand. We will fully cooperate.”And then one of the robbers, who looked like he would kill someone for staring at him the wrong way, stepped forward and pointed his gun at the manager and the assistant manager and said, “move, don’t even think about doing anything stupid. It would just make my day to kill both of you. Do you understand?”

They both nodded in unison. And double-timed it to the vault. They looked straight ahead and were afraid to take a deep breath. They were terrified. Mr. Hudson, the bank manager, was sweating profusely and having difficulty taking a deep breath. He felt light-headed. He tried calming down. He tried to answer the robber but wasn’t able to speak. His mouth was dry, and it felt like his tongue wasn’t operating in any normal way. So, he just nodded his head up and down.

Meanwhile, the bank customers stared straight ahead, not looking at one another. Hoping that they would see their family again, and not knowing what would happen next.

The older woman stood there, transfixed by her situation. She had always been able to navigate her way through life. And this situation made her extremely angry. And so, she began thinking about what was the best way to get out of this situation alive. She concentrated on remaining calm and breathing deeply. She decided to take one moment at a time. People often ignored her because of her age and how fragile and helpless she appeared.

But the fact was she had never been helpless. She had lived a long time, and she understood people and their behavior better than they did. She was a retired psychotherapist. She had spent her whole life studying human nature. She understood how people acted impulsively at times.

People who made a living from stealing from others who were wealthier than they or those who stole from a huge organization like a bank had a sense of entitlement. Because they felt like they deserved to have money, and therefore they didn’t have a problem stealing from a bank or from the rich. They felt they deserved it and had every right to steal it. They didn’t have a conscience or any sense of right or wrong. They acted and reacted. They are sociopaths. And they often act out without thought.

But, clearly, robbing a bank is not someone does in the spur of the moment. It has been planned. These robbers knew in advance of the huge amount of money that was transported to the bank that day. Someone on the inside was most likely working with them. She decided that they might be the weak link, and she would observe the bank employees’ behavior.

As Helen stood there contemplating what was her best course of action, she noticed that one of the tellers, who she had never seen before, was looking particularly nervous. Her face was flushed, and she kept wiping her brow with a tissue. And then she raised her hand and waved it back and forth. As if she was trying to get someone’s attention.

One of the robbers yelled at the top of his voice, ” Put your hand down before you don’t have a hand anymore.”

“I feel sick. I think I’m going to throw up. Can I please go to the bathroom?”
The robber looked at her like she had lost her mind. “As I said, put your arm down before I shoot it off. I don’t want to hear another sound now. Sit down on the floor. And shut your trap. Or I’ll shut it permanently. Got it?”

She nodded her head up and down. Her face was a particularly unpleasant shade of gray. And then she slumped to the floor in a heap. A young woman said, “can I go over and take a look at her to see if she is alright? I’m a nurse.”

“Sit the hell down, lady, and shut up. Do you understand?”

She nodded her head.

Helen said to no one in particular, “I believe I can be of some help to you. I‘m a therapist. And if you allow me, I have a short exercise that helps people who are under stress to calm down. It would prevent any further unfortunate events to occur. It will only take a few minutes.

“OK, lady. Come over here, and let’s see what you got up your sleeve.”

” As I said, I’m a therapist, and in my work, sometimes I used hypnotism to enable my patients to reach a deep level of relaxation to allow them to open up to me. And discover what is at the root of their problems. It only takes a short time. I think if I do this, you will have no further need to kill anyone and allow you to get on with your robbery and escape. What do you say?”

“Yes, go ahead and do it, and no funny business or you will be the next one to die. Do you understand?”
“Of course I understand. I’m going to go to the center of the room and ask all the bank customers to stand in a circle around me. And then I will induce them into a kind of sleep, but they will actually become deeply relaxed. And they will no longer be engaged in whatever is going on around them. And this will allow you to leave as soon as possible.”

“Alright, go ahead and do it. But keep in mind I can shoot you or anyone else if you do anything that will interfere.”

“Yes, yes. I understand. I will begin now.”

“Ladies and gentlemen, my name is Dr. Helen Orinoco. I am a psychotherapist. I help people relax so that they are better able and deal with stressful situations. I am just going to give to some prompts, and if you follow them, this event will come to a more peaceful conclusion. And no one else will lose their life, and you will all be able to go home to your families. I would like to begin by asking you to all stand in a circle around me. And then try to follow my instructions.

Dr. Orinoco began by saying, “please, everyone, take a deep breath and close your eyes, now roll your eyes upward under your closed eyelids. Take slow, even breaths. You will all return home safely to your families if you listen to me and follow my instructions. That’s right, slow, even breaths, you are beginning to feel much calmer. Try to imagine that you are some place safe, at home, or perhaps sitting on the beach watching the waves slowly flow over the sand.”

“That’s good. I can see you are all feeling sleepy and calm. You are safe. Nothing can touch you where you are now. Your confidence flows from within, and no one can hurt you now. You are visualizing a place where you feel safe and loved, and relaxed. You feel calm and confident. No one can hurt you. You are safe. Breathe deeply, slow, even breaths. Your minds are focused and clear.

And then, the next thing that the customers and the bank employees realized was the Doctor saying, “you can open your eyes now, you are safe, there is no more danger. Imagine it is three or four months down the road from this terrible event, and you are home and safe. I’m going to count to five, and then you are going to open your eyes, one, two, three, four, five. You are now fully awake now. And all is well. You feel safe and confident. Open your eyes.”

And when they opened their eyes one by one, they saw that the robbers were on their way out the door in handcuffs. The injured and those that had been killed were no longer in the room. Some people started crying in relief. And others just looked from one to another.

One of the police officers was talking to Dr. Orinoco. “Dr., I’ve never seen anything like this in my life. What happened?”

“Well, officer, I am a psychotherapist, and I use hypnotism in my work. And I realized that if I was able to hypnotize everyone, including the robbers, I could end this nightmare without any further violence. Most people are highly suggestible. Especially if they are open to reducing whatever is causing them to be afraid or tense. So, once I saw that everyone, including the robbers, was under hypnosis. I called you and your fellow officers to come here. As I knew none of them would become aware of what was going on until I told them it was safe to do so.”

“Well, maybe you should come to work for the police when we have this type of hostage situation. And in addition, you need to come and make a statement of exactly what occurred today, including who was the shooter.”

“Of course, I will follow you to the station. I would like to add that learning to self-hypnotist yourself would be of great benefit to police officers since their lives are so stressful. I would like to talk to your commander if I may.”

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