Flash Fiction February 2026 Day Two: What A Steal! (Kit)

 

1. Flash Fiction February 2026 Prompt: Steal (a thief discovers the item they stole was meant for them)

There’s nothing quite like wandering the streets of Vivec City, with all its busy passerby going in and out of each Canton throughout the day. One can find merchants, mages, priests, and more, as well as plenty of guards always on patrol. They’re not the friendliest bunch, the Ordinators, in fact they’re rather intimidating. Despite the harsh words and heavy armor lurking around every corner it’s still possible to find ways of getting things I want without others realizing. The foreign quarter in particular is the easiest and most accessible area as I blend right in with the rest of the visitors to the city-within-a-city. On a rather miserable dreary rainy day while walking through the main market area something shiny catches my eye. A small silver necklace inlaid with precious stones lays out on display at one of the merchants' stalls, and she appears to have gone for lunch. Careful not to be overly dramatic I pretend to stumble in order to deliberately bump into the side of the stall. The move allows me to grab hold of the necklace and slip it in my pocket before getting up and walking away, all while remaining entirely undetected. What a steal! She’ll never know what happened and might never even notice the piece of jewelry is gone with the vast amount of inventory. Happy with my newfound shiny object of the week I admire it upon returning to where I’d been staying these past few weeks. While inspecting the quality stones under better lighting I notice there’s a letter on the bed with my name on it. Opening the letter I read it, then reread it, and read it again a third time after that. Well that takes all the thrill out of it! The letter states my newly stolen item of choice has really belonged to me ever since last weekend, when Yuuri bought it with the intention of giving it to me. He hadn’t yet picked it up, and figured I would notice it on display, so he left it there for me to “steal” on my own. It’s a beautiful gift, really, it’s just more fun to have a bit of a strategy for obtaining such things, and hopefully avoid any Ordinators.