Run: 2026-06-01-01KT1HMSVP0JGWZB06QWR7SN7V

Molly spread the crumpled blueprint across the table, smoothing it with her palm. "Okay, Bill, focus. The party starts at two. We have exactly ninety minutes before the cake comes out." "Why does the cake matter?" "Because once the cake comes out, everyone's distracted, sugar-high, screaming. That's our window." Bill leaned over the paper, squinting. "And what exactly are we stealing again?" "The presents, Bill. We've been over this. Forty children, forty gift bags, plus the big pile by the bouncy castle." "There's a bouncy castle?" "Yes." "Can we go in it?" Molly looked up slowly. "We are not going in the bouncy castle." "I'm just saying, while we're there—" "Bill." "It's a missed opportunity, is all." Molly pinched the bridge of her nose. "Let's run the plan. You're dressed as the clown. You distract the parents." "With what? I don't know any clown things." "You honk a horn and make balloon animals." "I can't make balloon animals!" "You made one yesterday." "That was supposed to be a giraffe and it looked like a sad worm. A child will know, Molly. Children are ruthless." "Then make sad worms. Nobody's grading you." She tapped the blueprint. "I'll come in through the kitchen, grab the gift bags, load them into the van." "And the big pile?" "That's where the wheelbarrow comes in." Bill blinked. "We're wheeling a wheelbarrow through a child's birthday party." "It's a garden party. There are wheelbarrows everywhere. We'll blend in." "A clown and a woman with a wheelbarrow full of presents. Yes. Invisible." "You got a better idea?" Bill was quiet for a moment. "What if we just asked nicely?" "Asked the children for their presents." "They might say yes. Kids are generous." "Kids are not generous, Bill. Kids are tiny dragons hoarding plastic gold." He sighed. "Remind me why we're robbing a seven-year-old?" "We're not robbing one seven-year-old. We're robbing forty of them. It's economies of scale." "That doesn't make it better." "It makes it profitable." She rolled up the blueprint. "Look, half these gifts are unopened electronics. Tablets, game consoles. We fence those, we're set for months." "And if we get caught?" "By who? A parent? You'll honk the horn, I'll throw confetti, we vanish in the chaos." "You make it sound easy." "It is easy. The hardest part is your costume." She tossed him a red rubber nose. "Put it on." Bill squeezed it onto his face. "How do I look?" "Terrifying. Perfect." "What about a name? Clowns have names." "Fine. You're... Mr. Giggles." "I don't feel like a Mr. Giggles." "What do you feel like?" He considered it seriously. "Sir Honksalot." Molly stared at him for a long moment. "We are stealing forty presents from children, and that is the line you're drawing? The clown name?" "A man needs his dignity, Molly." "You're wearing a rubber nose." "With dignity." She grabbed the car keys and headed for the door. "Get the wheelbarrow, Sir Honksalot. The cake waits for no one."