A Night of Culture

[MBCE]

Sammy looked at his watch. 5:30pm. He still had about an hour before the play began. For the fifth time already, Sammy checked the ticket in his pocket. The ticket was for the play, The Sparrow, a play he first saw back in his native town of Chicago a few years ago. It was a story of a young high school girl that returned to her rural city after a long absence. The town had experienced a tragic accident where the entire senior class had been killed in a horrible train accident. The young girl was the only survivor and had to return to complete her final year of high school.

Sammy placed the ticket carefully back into his pocket and looked about the area. He had never visited this part of town and was very impressed with what he saw. The streets were in very nice condition and the blaring lights and noise of the Boardwalk was missing. Sammy smiled at hearing the silence. 'I didn't know just how bothersome the casinos's noise actually was until today. I would have never thought I would enjoy the silence.'

Sammy stretched his arms wide and took a deep breath before heading over to a nearby coffee shop. 'I've got time for a coffe or two. This is going to be a really good night!'

[MBCE]

Sammy stepped into the dark interior of the coffee shop and took a moment ot get the layout of the place. As a professional burglar, Sammy always liked to make sure he knew the ins and outs to any places he walked into.

A large L-shaped counter took up most of the coffee shop. The counter had a dispaly filled with the remains of cakes and pastries from the long day. A single door behind the counter marked the entrance to the kitchen area where the cakes were most likely baked. Sammy watched as a young woman stepped out from the kitchen with a platter of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies. As the aroma of the cookies reached him, Sammy's mouth began to water. 'Man, that smells about as good as the ones my Grams used to make! Looks like Lady Fortune's watching out for me again!'

Sammy moved up to the cashier, ordered four of the cookies and a medium black coffee, before he realized that he hadn't checked out the people in the cafe. 'Darn cookies distracted me. Oh, well, while they're fixing my order, I can check out the folks in the place.'

Sammy turned slightly away from the counter as they went about gathering his items and sized up the various people in the shop. A young couple enjoying their drins sat in the lounge chairs provided. The spoke quietly while often reaching out to touch each other's arm. Sammy smiled slightly as he saw that the young woman's handbag was hanging off of her chair. He smiled as he saw that it was slightly open with the hint of a Vitton wallet inside.

Sammy took his coffee and cookies and moved over towards the couple. As he moved by the bag, he quickly bent as if stumbling. As he adjusted his position, he reached into the bag for the purse. Unfortunately, he was unable to grab the purse and his window of opprotunity had passed. He quickly moved to an empty chair by the window and sat down.

'Almost had it! I need to stop that if I'm going to enjoy tonight. It's not like I came here to work afterall. I just want some time to relax.' Sammy flexed his hand slightly and frowned at his fingers. 'I've been fairly lax at training recently. Perhaps its time I head back to school. I'll look at the option later. Tonight, I enjoy the show.'

[MBCE]

The theater was smaller than Sammy had expected. The stage was a floor leveled square with rows of seats surrounding it on three sides. The fourth side was blocked by a curtain but there was nothing to block the view of the stage.

He smiled at the simple design of the production. The stage was bare of a set which was rare for most productions these days. The abundance of expensive special effects found in movies had also found its way to the big budgets of the large productions on stage. It seemed that everyone had forgotten how to use their imagination when viewing a play on stage.

'This is going to be really refreshing. With all the high technology in use these days, it's a great change of pace to see something brought back to a simpler format.' Sammy leaned back in his chair and watched the other patrons enter the theater.

Most of the people that came in where in pairs, couples completing their dates with a little bit of culture. 'And here I am all alone. Just my luck.' Sammy blinked when he saw the couple from the coffee shop walk in and sit a few rows below him. The young woman's bag was closed now but seeing it reminded the thief of his failure to take the wallet earlier.

Sammy looked down at his hands again and flexed the fingers. 'I've gotten rusty. That wallet should have been mine. Maybe I should try to sharpen my skills. Maybe that guy Lenny can help me out. He seems to know where to find what I need.'

A buzzer broke in on Sammy's thoughts announcing the beginning of the performance. 'I'll ask Lenny if he can set me up with something later.' The lights dimmed and music began playing. Sammy smiled as the first performer appeared on the stage.

[MBCE]

The lights came on and Sammy stood with the others in the audience clapping thier approval of the performance. He scanned the crowd again thinking of trying his luck at the purse but the play had put his heart into a different light.

I'll let her keep her bag for now. I have more important things to do than to lift purses. Time for me to get in touch with Lenny.

Sammy left the theater and worked his way home. In the morning he would search out Lenny for the information on a place to hone his skills.