Tangled Yarns: Hidden Talents

"It looks to me like you tried to break the window, but you knocked yourself out instead. That, if you don't mind me saying so, was a really stupid thing to do, not to mention clumsy."

"I agree," I said.

The policeman walked slowly away in his policeman-walking way, and I got to my feet. The Burglar Fairy tried to smile.

"Don't worry," he said, "I've got an even better idea now. This is a dead cert. It can't fail. All you need is a saw and you'll be cutting your way to riches."

"Well..." I said.

Flash. I was in a room with a saw in my hand. Across the room, upside down against the wall, was the Burglar Fairy. He never managed to land safely, I noticed.

"We're in the upstairs part of a big shop," said the Fairy, "All you have to do is cut a circle in the floor and drop down to the cash register!"

"Is that all?" I asked.

"That is all," said the Fairy, "Ching ching! Open the box and you have thousands of dollars'"

I started cutting the hole. It wasn't easy. I had to turn the saw as I pulled and pushed it. And it made a lot of noise too. I hoped there wasn't anyone around who could hear it.

When the hole was ready I carefully lowered myself through and dropped down. I got as far as my tummy. Did I ever tell you that my tummy sticks out a bit? Well it does. I thought I'd made the hole big enough, but no. There I was, dangling halfway through the floors, and then I heard a voice down below, talking to my legs.

"I would suggest that you go back to where you came from!" said the voice, "This here's the police, and we take a dim view of people who dangle from ceilings."

"I'm sorry!" I said, "I didn't mean to get stuck!"

"I'm sure you didn't, lad. Its just a spot of clumsiness on your part, and I'm sure you can improve with a little practice, but at the moment I'd rather you were out of that hole and off to bed, like a good little boy. You've got school tomorrow, remember?"

"Oh yes," I said, "Thank you for reminding me."

I managed to pull myself out of the hole then the