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The Clever Ostrich and the Pickpocket
by Tom and Bill
Part II

The ostrich went inside and started watching TV. When the pickpocket woke up, he found the ostrich watching TV! "So you got in!" he said. "Wait until tomorrow," he said. "I will go through your chimney!" "OK," said the ostrich. "I'll be there tomorrow evening," said the pickpocket. "Right," said the ostrich. "See you there," and he left.

The ostrich got a ladder and climbed onto his roof. When the pickpocket came, he said, "How nice! He left a ladder for me!" The pickpocket climbed up the ladder and was kicked down. "Rats!" said the pickpocket, who had hurt his head. "Ha ha!" said the ostrich. "Now let's see who can get through your hedge first. You get the left; I get the right. (The right had the gap.)

High above the crowd on a small ledge sat an altogether insignificant figure. The figure observed the whole of the huge hall that stretched almost to the limits of imagination. The crowd had no idea he was there. A small, humored smile twitched across his pale face.

"It's so good to see you smile again, Karsh Kentu." a feminine voice intruded on his thoughts from just over his left shoulder. It was all he could to to not jump and slip.
Boy, would that spoil the festivities below..Karsh thought. "Abilene, you sure know how to spook a guy, for being a ghost and all." he stated to the incorporeal form sitting next to him. She laughed as if he had made a joke.
"I do love dropping in on you, it's been so long since you've smiled. What is that down there anyway? Shall I drop in?" A mischievous grin and a glint in the eye told Karsh that indeed, Abilene would make an appearance in the crowd, just for laughs.
"Um, no. That little get together is a party. And I disinvited myself from it to have a little peace. If you dropped in, everyone would be terrified." an understatement, if any. It had been said that in life, Abilene had enslaved the male population with her voice. Karsh Kentu didn't doubt it.
"You always spoil my fun." Abilene pouted.
"That's what I'm here for, right?" a ghostly hand punched him in the shoulder in response. *Break for now.*

*Back to the story* Karsh Kentu was leaning slightly, he'd spotted someone down below that he wanted to avoid like a torban hallucinating on bo'um, and Abilene's ghostly fist actually knocked him further off balance.
"Hey!" Karsh Kentu was very surprised by the hit. He hadn't known that ghosts could do that. He'd have to keep that in mind and torment his ghostly ancestor later....
Abilene, for her credit, did try to grab Karsh. Being a ghost, her efforts were more comical than helpful. Karsh felt her hands flash through his arm two or three times as he wobbled on the edge. Then he dropped.
"I'm sorry!" she yelled over the edge. Karsh merely had his arms crossed as he made his way to the ground below. His face had a look of extreme annoyance peppered with slight boredom.
'I do hope I don't break anything expensive.' he thought. He wasn't worried about falling. He'd survive that alright. He was more concerned with the fact that he was rapidly returning to the party he'd just left a few short minutes ago...

Arselen and Lady Bouvredi were discussing where Lord Kentu had disappeared to now as the servants rolled a large confection in.
"Don't worry my lady, he's bound to drop in unexpectedly..." Lady Bouvredi had no idea how true she spoke, yet the sound of a loud bang behind her and cake flying past her made her wonder. The shocked look on Arselen's face made her decide against turning to look.
"Well, he did drop in unexpectedly." A small lively smile broke upon her face before giving way to outright laughter. Lady Bouvredi was overcome by curiousity and had to turn around. She was never prepared for what she saw, and never would have been even if she was told what she would see.
Karsh Kentu was sitting in the center of a large cake with his arms crossed. Frosting dropped off his chin, spoiling his clothes. His mouth was working as if he was chewing on a rather tough walnut. The look of annoyance from behind the wreck of holocaust ed food was unmistakable.
"I... am back. Miss me?" he said dryly. A herd of Khyban could have run through screaming and wailing and no-one would have noticed in the silence. Karsh Kentu picked his way out of the cake and off of the now wrecked cart. The servants didn't dare say anything. They left that up to the now arriving Abilene.
"Kentu! Just what have you done?"
That was the end of the silence for the rest of the evening.

The Clever Ostrich and the Pickpocket
by Tom and Bill
Part III

The pickpocket said, "OK, we'll do it." "I know I will win," he thought. "Ostriches don't have arms!" They went to his hedge. The ostrich ran right; the pickpocket ran left. When they reached their destinations, the ostrich said, "On your mark, get set, GO!" The ostrich ran through the gap and won! Meanwhile, the pickpocket had finally made it, but he was scratched up and covered with thorns. "You did it, all right!" shouted the pickpocket angrily.

"Wait," said the ostrich, "Let's see whose boat can get across the pond first. I'll go get mine; you go get yours." They got them. "OK. On your mark, get set, GO!" The ostrich had a speedboat, so he won. The wind wasn't blowing, so the pickpocket had to take his sail down and row. "Easy," said the ostrich.