It was lunch time in the city. Shelly and two of her colleagues left their office and walked towards their favorite restaurant a short distance away. Shelly had a handbag slung over her shoulder. At a crossing, they waited for the light to turn green. When it did, Shelly, her colleagues and many other people crossed over to the other side of the road. Suddenly from the traffic that had stopped at the crossing, a motorcycle leapt forward. Two men were on it. In a flash, they were beside Shelly and the pillion rider grabbed her handbag. The force of the grab sent Shelly tumbling to the ground. The strap broke and the pillion rider held the handbag in his hand. The rider turned the throttle and the motorcycle sped off down the road, weaving between other vehicles in their rush to get away.
Fortune did not favour the thieves. A few seconds later, they crashed into a tanker in the middle of the road. The two men were sent flying, hitting other vehicles before falling on the road. They lay motionless. The whole sequence of events occurred in less than fifteen seconds. In that time, two distracted drivers crashed into the vehicles in front of them. Finally all traffic stopped. Some men rushed to the thieves and pulled them to the roadside.
Shelly sat on the kerb with her colleagues by her side. She was badly shaken by the whole incident. She had some cuts and bruises on her body. Otherwise she was all right.
Vocabulary
pillion a seat or place behind the person riding a motorcycle where a passenger can sit
kerb the edge of a raised path nearest the road
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