Picking your mark is important. This is no smash and grab. This is no crime of opportunity. This is tradecraft.
You look for sloppiness, for laziness. Expensive bikes left in back gardens. Hopper windows ajar. Packages left hanging from letterboxes. Easy pickings.
You look for signs of opulence, of wealth. How expensive are a person’s drapes? What car is parked in their driveway? Does security lighting protect their wealth?
Lastly, you look for patterns. When do they leave in the morning? Are their hours regular? Are there neighbours twitching at drapes?
You minimise the unknowns, the risks. Then, it’s all about confidence, about nerve. Can you be a shadow under eaves? Can you try door handles quietly? You’ll be nervous, of course. You’ll tremble, sweat, worry.
Show me insouciance; I’ll show you someone getting caught.
Thanks for reading folks. Recent short stories include ‘Scale and Perspective‘ and ‘Shadow and Light‘.
Matthew Richardson is a writer of short stories. His work has featured in Gold Dust magazine, Literally Stories, Close to the Bone, McStorytellers, Penny Shorts, Soft Cartel, Whatever Keeps the Lights On, Flashback Fiction, Cafelit, Best MicroFiction 2021, Writer’s Egg, Idle Ink, The Wild Word, Down in the Dirt, and Shooter magazine. He has a Professional Doctorate in Education. Matthew blogs at www.matthewjrichardson.com.
Matthew Richardson 
That’s a well done script, I would say. A very short story, but crisp and neat – just great, Matthew.
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