Run: 2026-10-08-01M4D9XHH26817AFSGMZKQQ5BY

Molly crouched behind the hedge, eyeing the glowing windows of number 14 Maple Lane. Balloons bobbed against the porch like captured ghosts. Somewhere inside, a child shrieked with joy, and a juice box exploded with a sharp pop. "Right," Bill whispered, adjusting his fake mustache. "Phase one. We slip past the bouncy castle." "There's a bouncy castle?" "Hundreds of tiny screaming people, Molly. It's a fortress." She sighed and tugged her stolen clown wig into place. "And the presents?" "Stacked by the piano. Forty-two boxes, each with a gold bow. Every one of them wrapped in paper with cartoon dinosaurs." "Why do they need forty-two presents?" "Exactly my point. Greedy little pirates." Molly checked her watch, then glanced at the front door, where a man in a polka-dot suit was juggling three bowling pins. "The clown's starting the magic show in five minutes. That's our window." "Perfect. Once the kids are watching a rabbit come out of a hat, we grab the loot and vanish." "And if someone asks what we're doing?" Bill grinned, pulling a lopsided balloon animal from his pocket. "We're the entertainment."