Light-Fingers Larry

Light-Fingers Larry, the notorious cat burglar, was at it again. He’d been burgling houses for most of his adult life, and had never even been close to being caught.

All that was about to change.

It was a dark and stormy night (it really wasn’t, I’ve just always wanted to use that phrase in a story). Larry had performed his usual deft magic and had broken into a large, opulent house. He was just finishing up and heading back to the window he had jimmied open when, directly in his path of escape, was a large, snarling, black Rottweiler.

Larry froze.

The beast was snarling and baring its teeth, but made no further moves toward him. Ever so slowly, Larry started to inch backward, but as soon as he did, the Rottweiler’s snarls increased and he started to move toward him. Larry froze again, and the dog continued his low, ominous growls, but stopped moving toward him.

This time, Larry tried inching toward his left, but as soon as he did, the dog growled louder and prepared to pounce, then toward the right with the same result.

Larry was starting to panic when he heard a voice behind him say, “You’re in trouble now!” Desperate, Larry said, “Please, go ahead and call the police. I’ll give myself up peacefully. Just call the dog off!”

Again he heard, “You’re in trouble now!”

Slowly, as to not incite the beast to attack, Larry turned his head to get a look at his tormentor. Sitting behind him on a perch was a large Parrot.

“You’re in trouble now!”

“You’re in trouble now!”

“You’re in trouble now!”

“You’re in trouble now!”

Over and over the bird repeated the same phrase, and the Rottweiler kept up his menacing snarls.

“You’re in trouble now!”

“You’re in trouble now!”

Finally, Light-Fingers couldn’t take it any longer, and he screamed back at the bird, “Can’t you say anything else but ‘you’re in trouble now’?”

There was a short pause, almost as if the bird was considering the question, and then it spoke:

“Sic ‘em!”