"Hey man, thanks for riding with me today. Seems like you’re in a hurry. Where are we headed?" The driver asked with a grin. "Nice llama pajamas, by the way."

"They're actually alpacas, and… uhh… anywhere but here. Just keep driving straight and I’ll tell you where to turn as we drive" I sat up and looked out the back window, a few blocks behind us the twins threw a taxi driver out of his car into the street and then they both climbed into the car, when the lights flicked on they merged into traffic following us.

"Hey man, I can’t just aimlessly drive straight. I need a destination. I’m not your personal butler. " The cab driver said, looking back at me from the rear-view mirror.

"Uh, okay, take me to the…." A bullet shattered the rear window and punched through the front windshield, leaving a perfect circle in the glass.

"Whoa, what was that!" The driver said. I dropped low as bullets tore through the cab, puncturing the windshield and embedding in the seats' padding.

“I think that’s the Russian Mob. I watched them kill a guy and then they saw me on the phone with my girlfriend. They think I’m a narc and called the police, so now they’re after me.” I said.

"What the fuck!? Listen man, you need to get out of my car,” The driver pulled over in front of an alley. “If you got business with the mob, that's your problem. I have a family I need to take care of!"

“Understandable, Merry Christmas.” I said, jumping out of the car.

"Fuck you, man!" the cab driver screamed, speeding off back onto the road.

Running down the alley, with a hailstorm of bullets chased me, they ricocheted off the concrete walls of the alley. Sparks flew as stray bullets bounced and hit trash cans, metal ladders. It was as if each bullet was on its own war path, destroying everything in front of it. Thankfully, lady luck was on my side. For once, none of the bullets even so much as grazed me as they wreaked havoc all around me.

The alley way came to a crossroads. Thinking quickly, I turned left down an alleyway with a dumpster and a few doors. I slid behind a dumpster to catch my breath; I must have frightened the cat that was sleeping around the dumpster because it hissed at me and then ran away. At the end of this alleyway of doors there was an open street with streetlights and cars passing by the opening. I need to think fast, it won’t be long before those goons caught me.

Looking in front of me, I saw a cat drinking from a bowl of milk. Hearing the slow pace of footsteps and voices far behind me, I quietly entered the door near the dumpster, then slowly closed the door behind me. The shop was dark and quiet, which was strange because it was only one in the afternoon.

Oh that’s right, it's Christmas Eve, of course they’re closed, but now is not the time to play detective Tom. Those guys are hell bent on catching me. I need to find a way to get out of dodge quickly; it was only a matter of time before they found me.

With my heart rate slowing down, and I started to catch my breath, I searched for a place to hide to clearly think of a plan. Walking past the large table in the kitchen, I opened the door and behind it was a pantry. Shutting the door behind me and I locked it.

I took a seat next to a large bag of flour and took a deep breath. Shit, how did this happen? All I wanted was to enjoy my Christmas Eve in my new apartment until I headed over to meet my girlfriend at her parents’ house. Especially since I spent all day yesterday searching across the entire city to find that heavenly divine pastry, which is now sleeping on my living room floor. But all of it went to shit because I was at the wrong place at the wrong time.

There was a noise beyond the pantry door. It sounded like the back door I just came through. Underneath the pantry door, a light flicked on, and I could see the shadow of a person. Fuck, I thought I had a lot more time to think of a plan; these guys are relentless.

My phone chimed, alerting me of a new text. Fuck, how could I forget to silence my phone?  

 Footsteps tapped slowly, growing louder as it approached the door. The shadow started to emerge from under the door, slowly inching towards me as the person behind it approached the door.

It was almost certain whatever mobster found me, isn’t going to hesitate to shoot me on the spot. My only option is to fight for my life. I looked around frantically for anything that could be a weapon. On a shelf next to bags of sugar, there was a rolling pin.

Beggars can't be choosers, I guess. I grabbed the kitchen tool and prepared myself for a fight.

The person was now in front of the door. There was a jingling of keys and then the sound of a click. The door was now unlocked. The knob of the door started to turn clockwise and slowly began to open.

This is probably the worst day of my life.

When the door opened, I held my rolling pin up high, then started to scream at the top of my lungs.

Standing in front of me was a short old man with a comically large baker's hat and mustache paired with it. “What are you doing in my pantry, boy?”

I lowered the rolling pin with trembling hands, letting it clatter against the tile floor. My legs gave way, and I sank down beside it, releasing a deep sigh that seemed to empty my entire body of tension.