Run: 2026-09-23-01M36NMVF3SCV7EG0X20Z3X415

Molly and Bill crouched behind a hedge outside the community hall, where paper stars trembled in the windows and a banner announced Nina’s sixth birthday. Inside, children shrieked with the joy usually reserved for opening treasure chests or discovering that somebody else had brought cupcakes. Molly adjusted her clown nose; Bill wore a magician’s cape and the expression of a man who had lost a rabbit and never recovered. Molly whispered, “We enter as uncles, then lift presents during the singing.” Bill murmured, “If asked, we're delivering a spectacularly late birthday surprise, obviously.” Their getaway vehicle, a squeaky ice-cream cart, waited beside the alley, loaded with disguises, rope, and one large sack labeled “BALLOONS.” The plan seemed flawless, except the cart played “Pop Goes the Weasel” whenever pushed, and Bill’s cape kept snagging on shrubbery. Molly studied the side door, where a handwritten sign warned: NO ADULTS WITHOUT A CHILD. She glanced at Bill. He glanced at the sack. A toddler in a dinosaur costume burst through the door, clutching a juice box and staring at them with courtroom seriousness. Bill offered the child a balloon. The child offered him a sticky raisin. Molly accepted this as a treaty.