Run: 2026-10-08-01M4E09GVPHYF7YM2A2X40Q4C5

The van sat three houses down from the Pembertons' with its headlights off and its engine ticking as it cooled. Through the windshield, Molly and Bill could see a bounce house shaped like a unicorn, forty helium balloons bobbing from the mailbox, and a banner reading HAPPY SEVENTH, MAX! Molly had already decided the banner was a sign from the universe. Bill had already decided it was a warning. "Walk me through it again," Bill said, drumming his fingers on the steering wheel hard enough to make the horn give a small, wounded beep. "Slowly." "Easy. We sneak in as clowns." Molly produced two squeaky red noses, a rainbow wig, and a sack of balloons from under her seat. "Nobody looks twice at a clown. Nobody remembers a clown's face. Nobody checks a clown's bag." "Nobody checks a clown's bag because everyone's too busy being terrified of clowns." Bill squeezed his nose experimentally. It honked like a dying goose. "Exactly. Fear is our friend." She unfolded a napkin covered in a floor plan drawn in crayon and smudged with what might be frosting. "The gifts are in the sunroom. Eleven presents, all wrapped in pink unicorn paper." "Eleven presents? For a heist, that's a bit thin." "There's a drone in there. A drone." "Molly, they're seven." She shrugged. "Max is seven. The rest are four to nine. They're tiny, sticky security guards with no sense of consequence." Bill stared at the house, where small silhouettes were bouncing inside the unicorn. Somewhere deep in his chest, his conscience sank like a deflated balloon. From inside came a dozen children singing "Happy Birthday" badly. Bill winced on every note. "What about the parents?" "They'll all be in the kitchen, pretending they aren't drinking the wine." "And the magician?" Molly tapped a crayon rabbit on the napkin and beamed. "Zafirro the Magnificent is doing a rabbit trick. Every kid will be watching him." "What about the walkie-talkie kid?" Molly winced. "Tobias. He's been guarding the cake since noon." "So what's our distraction?" "The piñata." "That's a donkey." "It's a donkey full of candy. Nobody can resist a donkey full of candy." "And the getaway?" Molly jerked a thumb at the van's back doors, where a rubber chicken lay among the crumpled wrapping paper. "We load the presents in there. It has a Baby on Board sticker." "There's no baby in the van." "Nobody checks a van with a baby on board. It's a law of nature." Bill opened his mouth to argue, then closed it again, because the logic was impeccable. "Oh, we're leaving a thank-you card." "A thank-you card? For what?" "For the presents, Bill. Manners cost nothing." "We're stealing their presents." "Politely." Molly uncapped a glitter pen and began to write, reading aloud as she went. "Dear Max, thank you for the lovely party. We'll take very good care of your presents. Love, the clowns." "We're thieves, Molly." "Thieves with manners." She pulled on her red nose and grinned. "Showtime."