The Invisible Thief

By Yusang Shim

I packed my invisible cloak into my favorite black bag. I also took pepper spray, just in case something went wrong. I rode a taxi to Lucas’ house and when I got out, I wore the cloak right away so that nobody could see me.

Thankfully I did that, since I saw Joe, the policeman patrolling the neighborhood. What a surprise! Joe must know that Lucas is up to no good, I thought. Either that, or Joe was on my tail.

Carefully, I walked across the garden, and quietly sneaked into the house, climbing up to the second floor where Lucas’ room was. “Oh, I am so lucky!”, I say to myself when I realized that no one was in the room.

I found the Tyrannosaurus Rex skull on his table. I grabbed all the parts and quickly put them in my large backpack. I knew that Lucas stole these T.rex bones from the national museum four years ago. I wanted to return them to the museum where they belonged. I checked the street to see if Joe was still there. I could see him moving from the window. I knew I had to get out another way. I quickly escaped through the back door, climbing over the back fence.

On my way down, my cloak got stuck on one of the vines, and it came off! I fell down with a thud. I was no longer invisible! I could hear Joe running towards me, and I froze. I had never made a mistake like this before.

“Hey you, what are you doing?!” He shouted. “Stop right there! Raise your hands where I can see ‘em!”

I stopped and looked back. There was Joe with a stun gun pointed at me. I sighed. I had no choice. I took the pepper spray from my bag and sprayed it at him.

Joe screamed. “Argh~~~ I can’t see!” I felt so sorry for him, but I had to escape as fast as possible! So I ran away from Joe, leaving the invisible cloak behind.

Jake

My name is Jake. I’m 15 years old, and I live in New York. I used to be a thief. But a good one. You know, the kind who steals treasures from bad people and gives them to poor people, just like Robin Hood.

I was so good because I had a secret power. I had an invisible cloak that made me invisible when I wore it. I found it two years ago in the attic of my house, while I was cleaning up my father’s things after he died. At the time, my father was working on breaking through electric fences. While he was trying to break through one, he made a huge mistake, which caused him to receive a high-voltage electric shock.

I found the cloak with a handwritten message from my father. It said: Use this invisible cloak for a good. It was then that my father was also a thief like me.

When I wore the cloak, no one could see my body, not even me! I decided then that I would become like my favorite book character, Robin Hood.

Every week, I sneaked into bad guys’ houses wearing the cloak, and I would steal treasures they stole. Then I would give them back, or donate them to the homeless and needy. After a few years of doing this, I’ve decided to retire, and focus on school. Honestly, I need more sleep. Since I became a thief, I could only sleep for three hours a day. I started getting really low marks in my tests since I didn’t have time to study. I decided that stealing the T.rex bones from Lucas would be my last job as a thief.

Lucas

Lucas is the best thief in the United States. He is only 25 years old, but has never been caught. He is mean and has never been satisfied with his life, even though he has become one of the richest men in the country. He has always tried to take away other people’s treasures. When he was young and still in school, he was a bully who picked on innocent students. I knew, because I was best friends with his younger brother, Michael. Lucas’ thieving started in primary school, when he would steal lunch money from first graders. When he would get caught he would threaten to hurt them. He was lucky that he never got caught and everyone was too afraid to tell teachers about him. Lucas had a mean streak from the start-- he would destroy other students’ property, cut holes on school bags with scissors, poke car tires with screwdrivers and throw golf balls against home windows just to see the glass breaking. He needs to be put in jail.

Joe

Joe is the best policeman in New York. He’e been trying to catch me since I started stealing for the first time. Even though I only stole from bad guys, Joe wanted to stop me stealing, so I always had to be careful. Joe has never failed a mission. Once he caught a robber who stole money from the biggest bank in the world. He also caught a famous murderer from Japan, who had killed 15 people in two days. He has succeeded in missions that other policemen couldn’t solve.

.....

It was morning. I was glad to get home in one piece! I looked at the T.rex bones and decided to write two letters.

The first was to the museum:

Dear Smithsonian,

Please find in this bag the T.rex skull that has been missing for four years. I hope you can put it back where it belongs. This should be appreciated by everyone visiting the museum.

JS

The second was to Joe:

Dear Joe,

The cloak you found is very special. Please use it for good, especially to catch criminals like Lucas. There is enough evidence at his home to put him away for good.

Also, I promise to never steal anything from anyone again in my life. And I am very sorry about the pepper-spraying you!

JS