Excellent Two bumbling thieves accidentally unleash mischievous ghost A Ghost Walks Into a Heist by marilyn quillen Flash Fiction writing prompt entry

Jimmy kicked open the window. “In and out, five minutes. What could go wrong?” Cole gave a thumbs-up from the bush where he was stuck. “Smooth as butter, baby.” He wriggled free, stood up, and smacked his head into a low branch. “Ow!” Jimmy facepalmed but crawled inside anyway. “Come on, ya dummy.” The job was simple: grab the box, get out. And there it was—an ugly, ancient wooden box sitting on a dusty shelf, just begging to be stolen. Cole stumbled inside behind him, knocking over a lamp, then tripping over the same lamp on his way back up. “Why’s it gotta be so dark in here?” “Shut up,” Jimmy hissed, snatching the box. Then, against all common sense, he shook it. “Why would you do that?!” Cole whispered loudly. Jimmy grinned. “I just—” BOOM! The box exploded open, and a ghost shot out, screaming like a banshee on fire. “FREE AT LAST!” the ghost howled, spinning through the air. “Thirty years stuck in that box—oh, you two are gonna REGRET THIS.” Jimmy and Cole both screamed, stumbled backward, and managed to trip over each other. They hit the ground hard, bonking heads in perfect unison. “Ohhhh my brain… ” Jimmy groaned. Cole tried to sit up and immediately smacked himself in the face with the open box. The ghost, a pale old man with a ridiculous mustache, hovered above them, cackling like a mad scientist. “Fools! I am Reginald the Malevolent! And now you’re CURSED—forever doomed to a life of uncontrollable bad luck!” Jimmy scrambled to his feet, wiping dust off his pants. “Cursed? What kinda curse?” Reginald grinned. “The kind where every step you take... something stupid happens.” Cole snorted. “Pfft, yeah right—” He took a single step and slipped on the exact same lamp for the third time. His legs shot into the air like a cartoon character before he crashed to the floor with a thud. Jimmy burst out laughing—until he took a step and smacked face-first into a bookshelf. Books rained down, pummeling him like bricks. One hit him square in the forehead. “OW! That’s hardcover!” Reginald doubled over in ghostly laughter. “This is too good! I couldn’t have planned it better myself.” “Can you UN-curse us?” Jimmy groaned, rubbing his head. “Pfft, no,” Reginald snickered. “But hey—look on the bright side. At least you guys can entertain yourselves!” He vanished with a loud POP! just as Cole stumbled upright—only to immediately trip on a rug and pull down the entire curtain rod on top of them both. The two thieves lay in a heap, tangled in curtains and crushed by lamps, groaning in unison. Jimmy glared through the mess of fabric. “Next time? You’re grabbing the box.” Cole winced. “Next time? I’m quitting crime.” Writing Prompt Write a flash fiction story that has 500 words or less. Any topic.

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