Storytelling: The Crafty Robber

Stupid, stupid, stupid. How could she have been so stupid? Alex muttered under her breath some more about the stupidity of her sister. It had been so simple, this was a heist they had done several times before. Their father, a construction worker had built in a false panel to a wall leading to one of the world's best stocked treasure vaults. Before he died he told them of what he had done and gave them instructions on how to find it. On multiple occasions now they had used that entrance, slipped in, grabbed some treasure, slipped out completely unseen, and made their getaway. It didn't matter what extra guards were added or how they changed up the security, as long as they used their passage they had a secure route. But then there had been that trap, and Anya just had to get caught it. Once she was caught she knew there was no getting out. As such she had requested Alex decapitate her so that she couldn't be identified and could at least perhaps protect their family from the family who owned this vault. Alex had complied although it she now felt nothing but empty dread inside. The thrill and exhilaration of the theft was gone. She returned home and delivered the news of what had happened to their mother.

The next day the town was in an absolute uproar. There had been a huge news story on the finding of Anya's decapitated body. The papers speculated that she was the robber who had been causing the so called royal family of this town. But even more speculation surrounded who had decapitated her. Everyone wanted to know who the partner was and if they had turned on each other in greed, However, the biggest news story was what they planned to do with her body. They planned to display it in effort to find out who the partner was. When her mother heard this she had an absolute meltdown. She threatened to turn Alex in for her own stupidity in getting her sister caught if she didn't retrieve her body and bring it home so they could bury Anya properly.

However Alex was in luck. In just a few days a grand dinner party was to be held at the very building Anya's body was on display at. She gathered the supplies she needed and entered the party under the disguise of a caterer for the party. After the party was well under way she slipped away to bring the guards some refreshment. She flirted and chatted with them as they drank their drinks. Soon enough they were snoring on the floor. Alex retrieved her sister's body from the display, slipped it into her catering cart and returned home. When the head of the family heard of this he was greatly angered. This time he sent his own daughter out to personally gather information on the robber. She went to the local bars and found rumor of the robber and decided to wait there. When Alex heard of this she simply couldn't resist. She went to the bar and challenged the daughter to a drinking game. After each shot they would have to make an honest confession about things they had done. When it was Alex's turn she confessed the most wicked thing she had done, which was to murder her sister. The daughter seemed unfazed and Alex was impressed. In the next round Alex confessed to her greatest success, robbing the girl's father several times.

At this the daughter seized Alex's hand. But Alex had been prepared. She simply pulled her hand backwards as a fake hand slipped out of her jacket sleeve. She waved her real hand at the stunned speechless daughter and took off out the door. As she ran she laughed. It had been a long time since she had so much fun. When the daughter returned home still holding the fake hand her father was stunned. He didn't know what to do from there. He knew simply catching the robber wouldn't work. So he decided to do the next best thing. The next day he put an ad in the paper offering the robber a job as head of security. When Alex saw that she fell out of her chair laughing. So once again she returned to the building that held vast treasure. But this time she used the front door.

(A robber making his getaway) 

Author Note: This story is based on The Tale of King Rhampsinitis. In the original story 2 brothers repeatedly sneak into a king's treasure hoard through a secret access point and steal from him. One brother eventually gets caught in a trap and killed and then through a series of shenanigans to retrieve the body and evade capture the remaining brother is offered the king's daughter's hand in marriage. In my story I changed the sibling characters from male siblings to female siblings because I've found that you can have fun with the dynamics when you take characters and swap their gender. I also made the setting a bit more modern but I decided not to make it too specific. I also changed a few of the details such as her being offered a job instead of the daughter's hand in marriage because it seemed to fit better with the story as I was writing it. I really enjoyed reading this story and thought it could be fun to retell. I chose to leave out dialogue because in the original story there is almost no dialogue at all. I chose the image I did because I wanted more of a fun cartoony image but I was really disappointed in my search when trying to find one of a female robber. Unfortunately most of them were overly sexualized images, but I still like the one I did end up using.

Bibliography: Egyptian Myth and Legend by Donald Mackenzie (1907).