Diamond Disaster

The moon shone gently, all was still. A small breeze rustled the leaves and made a soft, haunting, lilting melody. All was serene and undisturbed. A twig cracked and there was a sound of a shoe crunching gravel - but how could that be possible at this hour of the morning?

The mice paused in their eating, but when another crunch came, they disappeared into the darkness - only one stayed behind. Then as the next crunch came, it shot under some sunflowers.

The manor overlooked the park, but now there was no life left in it. The man in dark clothing stood and surveyed the quiet area around him. He stared thoughtfully at the manor looming ahead in the darkness. The park warden wandered away. A while later, the mice ventured out and resumed eating.

Unnoticed, a small lady with feline gracefulness and agility clad in tight black clothing crouched down against a wall of the manor and leapt up, grabbing a gargoyle that was leering down at her off an arch. Nimbly she flipped and twisted her body around and landed on top of the arch. She shot a grappling hook onto a balcony above her out of a launcher attached to her belt. Quickly she hauled herself up the rope and onto the balcony, then stood with her ear to the door and waited.

After a silent and cold wait, a code of taps came softly through the door. She tapped back and the door slid open, revealing her partner. Her partner was of a diminutive size, light build, rather hairy and his five limbs trembled with excitement. The reason lay on the pedestal behind him. It was a pink diamond, about the size of a peacock's egg, linked with bad luck, but exquisite to look at. A sliver of moon light stole through the open door and wrapped its silvery lining around it, making shafts of rainbow light fill the room.

Not wasting any time, the burglar put a suction cup instead of the grappling hook onto the rope and shot it onto the ceiling. Anchoring the rope with her weight, she motioned and her partner started climbing up the rope. He dangled off it with his feet - over the diamond. He reached down, and grasped it in his hairy hands. It was at this point that a cat from the direction of the hall snuck in and brushed itself against the burglar's trim thighs. Startled, the burglar dropped the rope. Her partner fell onto the pedestal setting off an alarm.

She kicked at the innocent cat, hastily gathered up her things and fled onto the balcony, where she then proceeded to jump down onto the hard ground. A resourceful guard had let out a pack of ferocious dogs but she heard them and saw them coming with the help of her peripheral vision. She managed to scamper away into the night, leaving her monkey partner to fend for himself.