Playtime
by Kyla Anel
Sofia Ruiz was only 4 years old when a gun was pointed at her head. A family-owned clinic was just closing down for the night when the uninvited entered the family’s second home. Heavily armed and masked strangers broke into the parents’ workplace and choked down the serene atmosphere. The silence was immediately captured by the men’s screams and urgent demands for money. The guns held Sofia, her maid, and mother and father captive, allowing manipulation to take place. They were now in control. Who knew Sofia’s life from playing with dolls and holding dress-up parties could turn to grown men playing with guns and pointing them to this child’s fragile skull? Their hearts beat to the ticking of the clock racing down to the seconds when the death toll possibly starts as the guns point to their heads and chests. Sofia and her family watched their every step - every single motion - trying to not be of burden to the men that hold the answer to how their night may end. Every breath was held back. Throats were choking on uncontrollable cries and screams for help, but none were able to escape. Fear overpowered yet again. With pure luck and destiny rightfully favoring them, the armed men grabbed what Sofia described to be her deceivingly large baby bottle, her father’s watch, and a nebulizer carrier bag thinking it was filled with all the cash the family may have earned that day. Upon the men swiftly leaving the scene, the family was left motionless in the stillness of the moment. Minutes later, with anxiety levels already on the maximum, someone had to top it all off. It served as the cherry on top for this whole mess of a bitter delicacy. The door creaks open, the Ruiz family hold their breath again. A man escapes the shadows and moves into the light. As he appeared to be a police officer, judging from the “uniform” he wore, sighs of relief followed and filled every edge and corner of the crime scene. This police officer entered the disheveled room with a face of genuine concern and worry. The family blindly responded to the man’s questions about what had happened, even while being numb to their core with shock. He assured Sofia’s family that he would file a report immediately, and for that single moment, they felt that harm was finally out of their way. Sadly, the luck from mistaking a relatively worthless bag for a bag filled with money and being let off alive ended there. The man was said to be a mere lookout for the group of armed men that broke in as he was spotted leaving in the same van. Keeping the faith, they awaited a report but unsurprisingly, they were just left empty-handed. Having to live a life with an experience of being faced with a gun at the prime age of 4 has its consequences. Sofia has faced panic attacks and anxiety on the daily - seeing visions of the past and settling with assumptions of possible murderers from the strangers that walk her way. Living a childhood indoors with constant fear of strangers and settling with the comfort of only her parents’ company was the reality for Sofia. A habit of averting people from school developed over the years. The lack of trust she possessed put up walls around her, making everyone else walk the opposite direction. Eventually, she found a way to suppress the emotions of the past and welcome people into her life again. “There will always be goodness in them," she mentioned. Her family, then, decided to move their clinic closer to home and move past the traumatizing incident. The healing process commenced. For the victims that have to face the consequences of similar crimes for the rest of their lives with her, she says to “embrace the past though it wasn’t a good experience, but it was an experience that taught an important lesson – a lesson to be more careful and observant of your surroundings to stay safe”. With this, Sofia urges the possible witnesses of similar crimes to help and do anything to keep lives out of high risk. Now for the criminals, all she has to say to them is "If money was all you were after, you didn't have to hurt people in the process. My parents are very charitable people and could've helped you had you asked nicely. Violence isn't a solution. Anyway, it's okay. God bless.” At the end of the day, material things have no real value. It is the life worth keeping, the one worth saving.










