It was the summer of 1998 and a couple of friends named Chick and Noah were about to do the most stupid thing ever done in their lives. Chick was a short and fat boy; he had curly red hair and light blue eyes which reminded the sky and the sea. He was a funny boy and everyone remembered him thanks to his cheeks covered by many freckles. Noah was the opposite of Chick: he was a very good-looking guy and he was tall and muscular. Noah had wavy brown hair and green eyes. Every girl in the town was in love with him because he was fascinating and mysterious.

Chick and Noah grew up together because their mothers were best friends since the high school. The two boys had never been good at school because they didn’t like studying, in fact, after the diploma, they left the school and they went to work. Chick worked in a bakery and Noah was a builder, he worked for his uncle’s company. They lived together in Mansfield, a little farm village in Michigan, in the old house of Chick’s Grandma, who had left them the house before dying.

In that period Chick had been fired because he was always late and, for this reason, they didn’t have so much money. A day, while they were having an argument about their economic situation, Chick said something that sounded like a joke: “To have more money we could burglar Carrington’s mansion!”. Noah really considered Chick’s idea and kept thinking about it for days and days. One night, while they were having dinner, Noah told Chick: “Buddy do you remember when you were kidding about burglaring Carrington’s mansion?”

“Yep” answered Chick amazed.

“I think that we could do it for real.”

“Are you kidding me Noah?”

“No, I’m serious. It’s the only way we can make money now. We really need it desperately.”

The same night they started to organize the burglary that would take place ten days later. During the waiting days they bought all the necessary for the decisive night, like flashlights, black clothes and they rented a pickup truck. The expected day finally arrived. They had started to prepare for the robbery since the afternoon and everything went well. They returned home and celebrated the success burglary drinking two beers. They were excited and satisfied because they had stolen a lot of precious jewelleries.

They were still celebrating when they heard the door bell ring. Panicked, Chick hid the loot and Noah went to open the door. When he opened it, he was shocked to see three policemen. The first policeman said: “I have a warrant to search your house, because we were told that in this house there’s something illegal.” Noah let them enter and the second policeman said: “Sorry, but during the control you can’t stay in the house. Are you alone?” Noah answered: “No, there’s also my friend Chick.” Noah called Chick who came down the stairs frightened. Then the two friends went out together with one of the three policemen. During the frisk Noah and Chick heard a lot of noises but they ignored them. Soon after the policemen opened the door and told to the two friends that everything was in order, so they went away.

Noah and Chick breathed a sigh of relief. While they were about to go back, they heard a voice calling them from the street. It was Noah’s father. Noah asked: “what’s happening dad?”

“Your uncle has got a heart attack.”

“W- what? Where is he now?”

“He’s at the hospital. I’m going there, do you want to come with me?”

“Of course, let’s go.”

So they got in the Noah’s father car and went to the hospital. The trip was really long because the hospital was in the near city. During the route there was silence of a grave because everyone was worried and anxious. Suddenly Chick broke the silence and said “Does anyone know if there is a bar near the hospital? I’m very hungry!”. Both looked him surprised.

When they arrived they dashed to Noah’s uncle and stayed there all night.

The next morning, they went to a bar to buy a coffee. There they saw the news on the TV. They were shocked because they recognised the policemen from yesterday’s night. Actually they were thieves and they were stopped at the border of the country. They noticed that in the loot there were their things included the jewelleries that they stole in the Carrington’s mansion.

THE END

Story created by

    Alice Recanatini

       &

    Matilde Pesaresi