Yeah, something different. This was written for my English class. My teacher actually really liked it. Go me. XD
He gave us four articles and we were to turn one into a short story. I chose one about a woman who had her art pieces stolen.
It was June. Not only was it June, but it was June in Texas. Two people sat hunched over a table in a small apartment. A single piece of paper sat between them. The text covering the page held the story of a woman who was going to be showing off some artwork. The woman smiled, moving a lock of blonde hair out of her eyes.
"This is it. We'll steal some of her art. Look at that! Picasso's art," she looked to her partner feeling satisfied. He only shook his head. Speaking again, she asked, "What? Why not? It'll be great!"
"First of all, that's probably the worst plan I've heard come out of your mouth yet. Maybe if you thought about it in more detail, it could be plausible, but you fail to do so. Secondly, stolen art is hard to sell. Even I know that. Julia, you really need to work on your planning ability." The man sat back in his chair. A sigh escaped as he let it sink in.
"You're right, Izzie," Julia answered at a moment's length. She couldn't help but feel slightly dejected. She'd really thought her idea was going to be made into something. Izzie didn't disappoint her.
"I didn't say we weren't going to use the idea. I just said it needed improvement. Now, we'll have to conduct surveillance. We want to know when an opportune time to strike will be." Julia seemed pleased. That made Izzie feel at ease. After all, it meant that Izzie wouldn't have to deal with her complaining.
Before long, the duo were walking casually down the street, acting just as any couple would. The only difference was that these two were walking by the Borinstein home with a purpose in mind. Julia surveyed the area quickly before pretending to stumble and fall to the ground. Once she did so, she let a small camera fall to the ground. Izzie helped her up and the two continued on their way. An hour or so passed by and the couple were coming back by the house. This time Izzie put his hand out, letting his fingers catch along the fencing. There was no look in his face indicating he knew that there were now two cameras trained at the house. As long as the cameras went undisturbed, the two wouldn't have to come in person to observe the woman. If they had to, then they would, but at this point, they wanted as much time to be home in the apartment as they could.
"Well, I think it went well today," Julia smiled. Izzie only grunted in reply. They still had to wait. Days, weeks. He wasn't certain how long it would take to learn this elderly woman's habits, but he wasn't going over a month. They'd been in Texas too long for his liking anyway.
"Next week we get supplies. Gloves, hats, suitcases. Not all at once. That'd be suspicious. Well, let's start this week. Every few days we go and get something different." Izzie's mind was rolling over all the possibilities. If everything was done slowly, then there'd be no reason to have suspicion. If they really pulled off getting away with the art without anyone siting them, then they may just get away with it all.
"You really think things over," Julia commented. She was content just to follow after Izzie. Her mind wasn't suited for thinking up elaborate plans. It was suited for finding ways in and out of areas and coming up with disguises. Both had strong suits and would work to accommodate each one.
A week passed by soon enough. Before long it was two, then three. Now it was finally the day everything would fall into place. It was the twenty-third. Izzie slipped into baggy jeans and a tee shirt. A black bag was slung over his shoulder, containing two hats, two pairs of gloves, and black jackets. Julia had a tank top and a pair of jeans on. They both had a coating over the bottom of their sneakers and did their best not to stand out an overly amount.
By now, they'd worked out Mrs. Borinstein's schedule efficiently. She'd be off to the store in just a few minutes, where she'd spend at least two hours gathering things together, picking and choosing what she wanted, and waiting in line to buy the items.
There were no worries as far as the thieving duo was concerned. They'd be in and out quickly. Was the fact that they didn't know the layout of the house a problem? Not at all. They only needed to find the pieces of art, and since the showing was close at hand, they were sure art would be lying about. And, of course, Izzie knew that if any pieces of art were prized, they'd be in the woman's bedroom. That meant only one room was truly needed to be found.
"Got it?" Izzie grumbled. Julia nodded. They were now walking down the all too familiar street containing Mrs. Borinstein's home. Soon, a car pulled out of a driveway a few houses down and took off in the direction of the store. Both smiled. Although Julia was just itching to run into the house, break into it, and steal away all the precious art that this woman held so dear. This job wasn't like their normal ones. This would bring in no money. All this heist was, in essence, was something for them to do. Putting despair into people's lives was what they had come to love.
Finally the car had driven far enough away, and the two came up to the house. Julia picked up the camera she'd placed, as Izzie took his. Glancing about, the two tore down the pathway. Izzie pulled out the hats and gloves. They tucked their hair into the hats and quickly donned the gloves. Julia picked the lock to the door expertly.
"Go," she hissed as the door opened. Izzie didn't waste a second. He was sprinting all throughout the house, grabbing the paintings that looked familiar. If they were familiar, they were famous pieces. As long as they were famous pieces, the thieves were content. Izzie felt satisfied as he opened a door to find the woman's bedroom. A single art piece hung above the head of the bed. He wasted no time. It was securely in his bag in only moments.
"Go, go, go. We're out," Izzie huffed, booking it out of the house. He tore down an alleyway that was near by and took off his hat and gloves. Julia followed, hot on his heels. The articles of clothing were shoved back into the bag and the two rand down the rest of the alley. Luck was on their side. No one was out on the street, so the two walked out and acted as if nothing had just happened. No, they hadn't just come running out of a strangers house as if some carnivorous beast was on their trail. No, they weren't carrying paintings that had no right to be with them. At least to the rest of the world, it appeared so.
A few days later, Izzie sat at the table, staring at the small television screen triumphantly. It was set to the news, and the story of the burglary was playing. An article entitled "Blue Period For Collector" sat on the table. It too was of their crime. Julia was seated on the small couch, laughing. Both stopped when it was announced that a detective would be on their case.
"Oh, I have no worries. After all, how could they figure out your plan? They can't! You're the best! Right?" Izzie chuckled at his companion. She could be so naive at times.
"Well, there's only one way to be certain," he answered. "This is the last of this plan - burn them. We need to burn the paintings. The gloves and hats don't matter. They weren't left at the crime scene, so there's no way we could be connected to the case, just as they can't get a hold of our footage because we recovered that. Now we just have to burn them. They won't get us money anyway." There was a shine to Izzie's eyes. Julia smiled. If that was what Izzie wanted, then Julia wouldn't argue.
"You remember how we got started?"
"Of course," Izzie scoffed. "A year ago, yes? We were working in those dreadful office jobs and had just gotten laid off?"
"Yes! Yes! And we wanted to get back at them, so we stole all kinds of things from people. Then we had to run! Some of their things were valuable," she chuckled. Izzie laughed with her, pulling out a lighter. They made their way outside to a deserted area. Before long, a large-sized fire engulfed the paintings as the pair walked away, giggling like little children when they had a secret. And did these two have a secret.
"It's always worthy to have a plan," Izzie muttered. Julia giggled more. Her agreement was unsaid, but they both knew it was there. Plans got them through in the past, plans had just got them through, and plans would continue to get them through. As long as Izzie could have a plan, there were no worries.