Write a story about a very skilled pickpocket.

Posted in Character on Oct 26, 2022

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✍️ 65 stories

“The Professional” by Vaibhav Sharma

Submitted to Contest #18

There’s nothing like winters to put a pickpocket out of business. With all the layers that people walk around in, it would be easier to just rob them at gunpoint. Which is why I found myself alone on the street near a library on the twenty second day of November. It was the time of the year for the pickpockets to go into hibernation, looking at months of honest work that will follow. I knew for a fact that Reggie had gone to work at the farm his uncle owned in Wisconsin and Slippery Steve was almost out of money. It won’t be days before he c...

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“The Benevolent Pickpocket” by KC Gilman

Submitted to Contest #18

There she was. Olive skin, dark black hair, brown eyes. She stepped out of her building and onto the cracked New York sidewalk, her black boots glistening in the unexpected but welcomed afternoon sun. Today, she was wearing a bright red peacoat that added a pop of color to the otherwise cold and dreary December day. I’d seen her around plenty of times before, but there was no way she knew I existed. At least, not if I’d been doing my job right.Olivia Madeira: 5’06’’, 28 years old, and allegedly addicted to her phone. At least, that’s accordi...

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“Santa” by Nurul Aziz

Submitted to Contest #18

This is not your average biography. My name is Mikaela, your average office girl, and I am going to tell you about an infamous figure among the thieves, the homeless, the gangsters. They call him 'Santa'. None of them actually know his real identity, not even how he looks like. For all they know, those who stole something from others ended up having the things being stolen returned back to the original owner. The nickname was originally started by the victims who got their things back from this 'Santa'. Eventually, the thieves who found out ...

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“Acquired Skills” by Olivia Gilbert

Submitted to Contest #18

They call me the Snake. My slim figure and height contribute to this nickname, but it mostly stems from my ability to slip through crowds and claim their belongings as my own, without an ounce of guilt. I’ve never been caught, and I don’t plan to start now. I finagle my way through the horde of rampant shoppers on the busiest day of the year for retailers across the country. Black Friday creates a chaos like none other. The day after a holiday dedicated to being grateful for what we have, these materialistic buyers enter a craze of spending,...

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“Danny Furlough's First Christmas” by Chris Novak

Submitted to Contest #18

Danny Furlough wandered around the courtyard of the outlet mall, watching shoppers come and go, arms laden with presents. Hundreds of people, nearly everyone smiling and laughing, chatting with friends and family. Danny loved the holidays, loved seeing the upbeat mood of the people, the bright lights, the decorations. He loved seeing the easy marks, fat wallets and purses, unattended packages and bags. Just waiting for him. An easy score. Danny Furlough was thief in general, a pickpocket by trade. He was a chameleon with unrem...

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“Stealing in the Square” by Charlotte Bunker

Submitted to Contest #18

The gray clouds hung low over the city of London. The cold, dull streets were filled with people bustling around in and out of shops. Jack watched as hats flew up into the gray sky like dancers twirling threw the air when a sudden and strong gust of wind blew past. Jack shivered and walked on through the square. In the midst of the hustle and bustle stood a rich looking man. The man stared down at a piece of parchment in his gloved hands, most likely, Jack thought, a newspaper. Jack continued thinking, the fool, he thought, standing around i...

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“Saccade” by Mezi Mul

Submitted to Contest #18

The man watched the woman’s hand fall into her purse as she caught sight of the “ATTENTION: PICKPOCKETS” sign. She pulled out a tube of lip balm and coated her mouth with the waxy end, satisfied to find everything in place. The man jabbed the crosswalk button a good few more times, then quickly hid his hands from the empty winter wind in his coat pockets. “Most push-to-walk buttons don’t do a thing,” the woman said between breaths. Apparently she’d been chuckling at his frustrated attempts.The man reflected her smile, scratched lightly ...

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“The Empath Thief” by A.B.B. Olson

Submitted to Contest #18

It was raining when Milo Branson left his office building with his shoulders hunched against the miserable day. He gave the sky a sour look and pulled the collar of his dark pea coat up around his chin. It had been one of those days where nothing went right; everything he picked up he seemed to drop or knock over, every task he was given seemed to come with an unforeseen issue, and every person he encountered was unhelpful or cranky. As he walked along the busy sidewalk, Milo twisted and turned so as to not rub against people, and grimaced a...

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“Recessed During Recess” by Yoshimi Takenaka

Submitted to Contest #18

“Elementary school playgrounds are a hatchery of crime.” Calvin hissed, and kept his stomach low to the ground as he crawled across the basketball court. His partner — Detective Elijah — was hanging on to his every word, but it was difficult to speak in his gravelly action-movie voice with his chest pressed into the concrete, so the boy decided to continue the narration in his head. Elementary school playgrounds are a hatchery of crime. A seedbed for to-be crooks, disguised by unassuming play structures and brightly painted swing s...

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“Thrills and Anguish” by S. G. Moon

Submitted to Contest #18

Looking around apartment 2B, Lana couldn’t help but find herself overwhelmed with the desire to self-combust. Her beat-up couch was currently shrouded in a number of fabrics and clothing of which she really had no need. As she slid her socked feet through the expendable piles that littered her tiny studio, she recalled a time, that seemed like eons ago, when she was content and never wanting for anything in this world. Just last year she had been in the best place, that was until her gorgeous ex left her to her self-destructive ways, causing...

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“The White Diamond” by Francis Groleau

Submitted to Contest #18

Rachel Malaney could barely concentrate on the tedious conversation taking place in front of her. She and her husband, Paul Malaney, had invited three other couples to a five-course dinner at the new French gourmet restaurant that had just opened on Main Street. She had agreed to the invitation on the grounds that it was to celebrate their upcoming fifth anniversary. Ever since Mr. Malaney had joined the most envied and private social club in town, their circle of friends had been filtered and cut down to a few elite members of the privilege...

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“Sea of pale faces” by Jayden Spresser

Submitted to Contest #18

His brown eyes stuck out as a light on a dark night amid the sea of pale faces all around him. His kind had no place here amid those of blue eyes and fair skin. Well at least no place among the well-respected people of this town. There was no work for people such as him. No good honest work that is. His kind we're stuck in the lower parts of the city, toiling in the mines, shoveling away the dirt from which they came from. That is what the respectable ones did anyone. The others well, they were workers of the street. Most running business th...

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“Jack the Elf” by Nicole Rook

Submitted to Contest #18

Jack grumbled, which wasn’t unusual for him. He was the oldest elf in the ‘assembly shop’. Most elves moved on to painting or wrapping, reindeer care or sled maintenance and loading. No one ever stayed in assembly more than two years. It was were every elf began and moved on from. All except Jack, he’d been there well on two hundred and twenty-nine years.Jack didn’t mind the work; he was left to work on his own mostly. Foreman Jingle had figured out very quickly that was how the aging elf worked best. He di...

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“LIFT” by Jackie Davis

Submitted to Contest #18

When she first wakes up, she lies in bed, eyes closed, becoming aware of the signals from her body. If her belly fizzes, as though there is a thrum of moths’ wings inside her, she knows today will be a good day. If there is an emptiness, like the darkness inside a wardrobe, or the nothingness of an empty cardboard box, she will stay home. She will turn over, pull up the covers, sleep awhile longer. When she gets up, she may do some washing, or some house work. Or maybe not. Whi...

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“Pass the Parcel” by Annie Percik

Submitted to Contest #18

Moonlight illuminated the casement window, dispensing with the need for artificial light. Stax was grateful for that; the soft, natural light enabled her to see what she was doing without making her any more obvious to anyone passing below. She made sure she was balanced securely on the sill, and retrieved a piece of heavy wire from her pocket. Inserting it in the slender gap between the window and its frame, she gave the wire a quick twist, and the latch sprang up. The window opened outwards, making it a tricky manoeuvre to swing around it....

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Write a story about a very skilled pickpocket.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 65 stories

“The Professional” by Vaibhav Sharma

“The Benevolent Pickpocket” by KC Gilman

“Santa” by Nurul Aziz

“Acquired Skills” by Olivia Gilbert

“Danny Furlough's First Christmas” by Chris Novak

“Stealing in the Square” by Charlotte Bunker

“Saccade” by Mezi Mul

“The Empath Thief” by A.B.B. Olson

“Recessed During Recess” by Yoshimi Takenaka

“Thrills and Anguish” by S. G. Moon

“The White Diamond” by Francis Groleau

“Sea of pale faces” by Jayden Spresser

“Jack the Elf” by Nicole Rook

“LIFT” by Jackie Davis

“Pass the Parcel” by Annie Percik

🌟 Similar prompts

Write a story about a character who buys a secondhand coat and then discovers something in the pocket.

Your fingers tensed around the object in your pocket, ready to pull it out at a moment's notice.

Write a story about someone cleaning out their attic. They find an old piece of clothing, and inside of its pocket is an old keepsake.

"It was just here!" you shout, frantically searching your pockets for the missing thing.

Contest #18

Enter our weekly contest!

$50

Prize money

291

Contest entries

0

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: