Run: 2026-10-08-01M4DA9J9CN1AGH3MM0FS13JJ8

Molly crouched behind the hedge, peering through the gap at the glowing birthday banner. "Right. Bill, talk me through the plan again." Bill adjusted his stocking mask, which had two eyeholes and a faint smell of cheese. "We sneak in through the back garden, grab every present with a bow on it, and vanish before the clown finishes his balloon animals." "And if the clown sees us?" "He won't. Clowns can't see anything that isn't a balloon." "That's not a real fact, Bill." "It's a fact in my heart." He pulled a crumpled clipboard from his coat. "I've been doing reconnaissance. Forty-two presents. Eleven are shaped like socks, which is suspicious, but the big pink one is definitely a bicycle." "You can't fit a bicycle through a kitchen window." "Watch me. I've practised with a wardrobe." Molly sighed. "Fine. What about security?" "Two parents by the punch bowl, one grandma with a camera, and a dog in a party hat." "A dog in a party hat is not security." "The dog is very alert. He's been staring at me since Tuesday." "Bill, he's staring at you because you're wearing a stocking on your head." "Which is why we need a distraction." Bill tapped the clipboard. "Phase two. You go to the front door and pretend to be a lost magician." "Why would a magician be lost?" "Because magicians are always lost. It's their whole thing. You say you've come to perform, but you've mixed up the addresses, and you're very upset about it." "And what do you do while I'm crying about my rabbit?" "I slip in through the side gate, grab the presents, and load them into the wheelbarrow." "You're bringing a wheelbarrow?" "Obviously. You can't carry forty-two presents in your arms like a normal person. Also, it's the only thing I could find in the shed that wasn't full of spiders." Molly stared at him for a long moment. "Bill, the plan is ridiculous." "Thank you." "It's the worst plan I've ever heard, and I once helped you rob a library by hiding in the returns box." "That went beautifully." "You got stuck in the box for four hours!" "And yet no one caught us, did they?" Bill grinned and pushed the wheelbarrow out from the hedge. Its front wheel squeaked loudly enough to wake the entire street. Molly closed her eyes. "Please tell me that wasn't part of the plan." "Everything is part of the plan, Molly. Now go be a magician." "I'm not a magician." "Then be a sad one. Sadness is very convincing." Molly stood, brushed the leaves off her jumper, and marched toward the front door, muttering, "This is the last time I trust a man in a stocking." From somewhere behind the house, a dog began to bark.