Nick Moss was good at nicking things. Sweets, fags, cash. Today he nicked the biggest thing ever.
An oil painting.
The man in the painting looked like him – handsome, smart.
Nick hung it over a damp patch. It gave his bedsit an air of elegance.
Nicking it had been easy. Now he felt like going on a nicking spree again.
Yeah, right now!
Excitement rose inside him.
He grabbed some tools – a hammer and crowbar.
“Wish me luck,” he said, grinning at the man in the painting.
The man in the painting seemed to grin back.
It was his mind playing tricks. Nick knew that. Still, it made him feel good.
No one argues with a man with a crowbar!
Nick went home happy, with wads of money.
Much later, as he went to bed, he felt it… A warm breath on the back of his neck.
“Who’s there?”
Silence.
Just the ticking of the clock.
