It was the night before Christmas, all throughout London, not a soul in sight. Everything shut down for the holidays, hardly a vehicle on the road, and it's a sight to see.
Snow quietly fell, covering the roads in an patchy white, the sidewalks covered completely, and the buildings covered from head to toe in snow and icicles.
Tomorrow's a white Christmas, with more snow in the forecast and the snow moving out sometime afterwards, leaving a few days of sun before the end of 2005.
Plenty of children taking the streets tomorrow after Christmas morning, playing in the snow, before running back inside to the warmth of their homes.
Christmas dinner abound with families joining each other while expressing joy around plates of food while exchanging stories as children fuss and excitedly talk to one another while flinging food.
Once Christmas ends, there's work going into preparing for the New Years celebration with parades, parties, many more.
What 2006 holds, nobody knows, but plenty of people made their resolutions and prepared to take on the challenges of completing them.
A busy holiday, indeed.
It should've been a silent night on Christmas Eve, but someone stirred and they're in a rush, a bag in hand. His blue eyes darting back and forth.
A tall slender man, looked almost his fifties, his peppered combed hair covered in the snow as he ran a hand through it to remove the snow as it landed.
His breath showed in the cold air as he walked through the streets in the snow.
Not a thief, one would think, even he wondered if the police think he was, but they wouldn't understand what he's trying to do, and he's forced to hurry onward as he doesn't have time to explain what he's doing.
The first place he visited earlier that night, it didn't have what he's looking for, they're in a queue with other stores to obtain shipments he found from looking at the sheets, so he had to quickly move on to the next place.
A toy shop, he knew it had exactly what he's looking for, he staked it out earlier and watched people coming into the shop asking about the toy.
His accomplice waited for him at their secret spot with the haul from their earlier break-ins and he prepared to break into this toy shop for the latest round.
He knew they're in the back, they haven't gone on the floor yet, people practically frothed at the chance buying them once the news broke.
It took the forceful company to keep people from trying to buy them in the back alleys for an exorbitant fee. The threat of breaking contracts resulted in heavy fees and a severed connection to future releases. Not even the major toy stores wanted to try their hands at breaking the street date on these toys.
There's dozens of preorders from people desperate to obtain the toy and they're prepared to camp outside their stores the moment it's closer to release. Already, there's people calling out work for the toys, and it's getting crazy.
Hence what he's trying to do. Get all the toys he can now, find if there's any more, and go from there.
In his mind, it's the only reasonable thing he could do, nobody would ever believe him, not even himself, but it's the honest truth, and then some.
To describe his mission, people would think him utterly mad, commit him to a mental ward, no doubt, if he tried to tell them.
If only they knew, these were not toys, something else entirely, and he hoped to get them all before they go on sell, late January. He made sure his accomplice staked other shops and stores, making sure nobody bought them illegally before they began their mission.
She's counting every toy they obtained as of now and checking every one, making sure they're legitimate articles, and not copycats that they accidentally took.
The toys' branding didn't help much, people knew what they are, but they don't know what they are, and because of this, the thief hopes to snatch them all before anyone gets their hands on them.
He counted the total produced, a few thousands, but the shops and stores don't know there'll only be a few. They were fed misinformation and assured they'll have more in stock before the release date.
Of all times to do it, it incensed the thief that they do this during the holidays. It's insane that they think it's a good idea and he doesn't even know which person to blame for this catastrophe!
No rhyme or reason, the thief doesn't understand how or why it happened, but someone with only motives known to them, decided to treat themselves to a laugh at the expense of what he's aiming to steal before they're doled out to waiting masses.
Don't know if there's malicious intent, but considering what's at stack, it's anyone's guess.
Sneaking around the back of the toy store and finding the sole locked door, the undeterred thief looked around, checking every corner, before he used something from his pocket, and hurried inside the toy shop.
It's dark inside, with the same tool he used, he produced a light, looking for every trick in the playbook used. A hidden alarm, security cameras, anything that would've complicated his already complicated plans further.
Carefully, the thief searched the area for anything, disabling what he found, before moving on to the crates.
Multiple crates lined the backroom, wrapped in cellophane, with some opened as the employees took out more merchandise to put on the floor.
Unlike the typical toy stores, this toy shop targeted a specific group of patrons.
Hobbyists.
Looking around, the thief sets the crates closely.
There's model train kits, figurine kits, vehicle kits, ship kits, and other different expensive kits that wouldn't been in toy stores due to their costs.
Detailed figurines from popular franchises that cost more than a parent would've paid in a regular store. Kits for the scenes made for the figurines, perfect for the hobbyists who want to show off their purchases in recreated scenes.
Crates with tools, paintbrushes, paints, everything hobbyists needed to put together the perfect playground.
It's the perfect place for the merchandise the thief's seeking as they're much more expensive than the cheap toys sold at grocery stores.
Surveying each crate, the thief looked for the right one, he knew what he's looking for, he knows the sight from a kilometer away. There's a picture of what he's looking for on the side of the crate.
Light illuminated his blue eyes as he raised the tool, checking every crate as he walked through the aisles.
His thick Glaswegian showed as he muttered under his breath, "Where is it?"
While looking for the right crate, the thief stopped as he heard muffled noises coming from a crate further ahead of him, and he went through the aisle as his shoes clacked against the lamented floors.
Coming up to the crate, immediately, the thief sees the illustration on the side.
It looked like something from the 60s in the design and there's multiple alterations of the toy in the background.
Wrapped in cellophane, the crate's left untouched, just as stipulated by the company, and with a knife, the thief cuts the top horizontally before prying open the crate.
Inside in the neatly designed clear packaging, there's figurines of the popular aliens from the show, 'The Doctor,' called the Daleks.
At least a few hundred of them, neatly stacked, ready for the employees to take handfuls out for displays.
Picking up one of the toys, the thief stared at the Dalek, grimacing as he studied it with the light from his tool.
It's got a black and silver body, pointing to the side, and as the thief held it up, he commented at the sight.
"What have you lot done to yourselves, now?" The thief asked aloud as he stared at the packaging.
Of all things he'd ever witnessed, this is a first.
As he looked, he's suddenly startled as he heard a tiny garbled plea coming from the packaging in his hand, "Help… me…"
The pleas continued and it animated the other Daleks in the crate as they're begging for help.
Horrified, the thief said aloud in exasperation, "Happy Christmas, indeed!"