It was noon and Leo paced around on the lanyard of his neighbour, Danny Greton, thinking, “Maybe I shouldn’t break in. What if I get caught? Would I be sent to jail? What if mum catches me? Would I be grounded for the rest of my life? Or would she take away my pocket money and make me give away all my toys? I can't believe Mr Greton confiscated my baseball after I accidentally used it to break his window! Mum is gonna be furious when she finds out, maybe calmer than finding out I stole my baseball back, but she might not know if I take it back, but she certainly will if Mr Seward tells her. Looks like it’s better to try.”

Danny looked at the tool bag in his hand which he “borrowed” from his dad, the locksmith.

Remembering the steps his dad used to teach him when he was little, he carefully picked at the lock, thinking, “Lucky Mr Greton went on holiday, but what if someone else sees me? I better be quick.” And finally finished breaking the lock. Then, he crept inside.

It was incredibly quiet inside the house, you can even hear a pin drop. The house was very big, with five rooms and a kitchen. The house was also very cold and dark, and Leo wanted to leave as soon as possible.

Leo thought, “What if Mr Greton has CCTV?” Slowly, Leo, thinking of the many possible ways of him getting busted, made his way towards the closet, which he had once seen in Mr Greton's house warming party. He pushed the door open with a loud creak and saw that the closet was completely black.

Leo thought, “That sound sure was loud. What if someone hears it? A lot of people in the neighbourhood know Mr Greton is on holiday.”

Leo then decided it was best to focus and finally found a torch, flicked it open and turned it to the closet. The closet was huge and there was a small window in there. In the closet, there was all kinds of stuff, books, balls, bells and many other things that don’t start with ‘B’, not including Leo’s baseball though.

“My baseball!” Leo shouted when he spotted it. But then, Leo heard Mr Greton’s neighbour, Mrs Gala, saying, “ Why do I hear something in Mr Greton’s house? He should be on vacation now.”

And Leo heard some footsteps.

Leo thought, “ Oh no! Mrs Gala heard me, "I need to hide.” And crouched right under a window. Unfortunately, Mrs Gala peered through the same window. Leo started sweating as his mum looked longer. And Leo felt like he was sitting on pins and needles.

Everything seemed to happen slower. Leo could already picture himself getting caught. He could already see Mrs Gala calling the police. The police catching him and the disappointed look on his parents’ faces when they find out. Leo could feel the tension rising as Mrs Gala called Mr Gala to look. Fortunately, Mr Gala took one look and said, “I hear and see nothing dear, it’s probably just the wind.”

And Leo heard them leave. Then, Leo darted at the baseball and ran out of the house, silently vowing never to break into someone's house again.

The Break-in