Once upon a time, there was a peasant boy named Joe. He lived on the outskirts of Woodshire, a small village next to the kingdom of Manhattan. The boy took care of his brother and sick mother. Joe rarely saw his father because he was away working, trying to provide for his family. They lived in a two-room house. The kitchen and living room were crammed together to make one room. The other room was a bedroom, that they made fit four people for when their father was home. From the outside you could see how the house leaned to one side. The old wooden house was full of holes they had tried to repair and holes that no one had bothered to fix. The roof was practically caving in! The old metal screen door creaked when they opened it. There were many things wrong with the house, but they loved it anyway. (snapshot)

One morning Joe woke up first, as usual, but something was unusual; there was no food. That was common, but the uncommon part was they didn't have food yesterday either. Joe felt bad because his mom was sick and had no food, so he decided to go into the village to see what he could find. He only had a little bit of money to spend, but he knew he could buy something. Joe spotted a food stand in the center of town that was probably the size of his house. He couldn't take his eyes off the luscious rows of fruits and vegetables.

'Are you going to buy something or are you just going to look at it?' the lady snapped, breaking Joe's stare.

'How much is it?' Joe mumbled with a quivering lip.

'Five pounds,' the lady replied.

'That's triple what it was yesterday,' Joe exclaimed with shock.

He stomped away from the stand on disappointment and headed to the other side of the village. He still couldn't find anything that he could afford. He was jealous of the rich people buying everything they wanted on a whim. He stuck out like a sore thumb among all the rich people in their fancy clothing. He didn't look like he belonged there. He had a ripped shirt that looked like it had never been washed, His pants were in no better condition. Socks with holes in the big toes covered his feet. Joe's blonde hair was matted down on the side he slept on. His face was so dirty you couldn't tell what shade of skin his was, but his blue eyes sparkled like sapphire jewels in the light. (Snapshot)

Then a wicked idea came into his head. He could steal it. Joe knew it was wrong, but he was so hungry and his mother was getting sicker and sicker by the minute, so he felt he had to steal. Joe slowly walked up to another food stand. He eyed what looked best.

He could remember the first time he stole something. It was because his little brother wanted a blanket that a richer boy had. Joe thought it would be okay because the boy probably had enough money to buy hundreds. So when the little boy wasn't looking, he swiped it from his hand. He would do anything for his little brother, always.

Joe didn't know why he wanted to steal the food so badly. His heart told him to stick it out until his father came home with another paycheck, but his stomach told him to take all he could eat. His stomach signal was much stronger, so he decided to listen to it. (thoughtshot)

Joe walked closer to the food stand. He knew he needed to find the 'exact' moment to swipe the food. Then it came; the lady turned her head to help another customer. He grabbed a baby squash, a bag of apples and whatever else he could fit under his shirt. Once his shirt was full, he ran as fast as he could through town and back town. (expanded moment)

He opened the creaky door and slammed it behind him as if to shut out a monster. He went to the bedroom and dumped the food out of his shirt onto his mother's belly. She stared at the food with an open mouth. Joe knew she wouldn't care where it came from and he wasn't planning on telling her any time soon. Joe's mother didn't ask. She just opened the bag of apples, bit into one and smiled; that was all Joe needed to see.

The next morning, he woke up with a smile on his face. This was the day he was going to prove to himself that he would do anything for his family. He went to the kitchen and ate one of the apples and a piece of squash. Then he headed out to the village to complete his job.
He saw a man and his wife standing outside one of the shops. The woman had a purse that was slightly open on one side. This is too easy, he thought to himself (thoughtshot). He quietly walked up next to the lady and pretended to look at the stuff outside the shop. When she was reading a newspaper, he slowly reached for the wallet in her purse. His heart was racing a million miles per jour. As he touched the wallet it felt like his heart completely stopped. He pulled his hand back and stuck the wallet down his shirt. He acted natural and calmly walked away until he was out of sight of the couple. Then he ran home to see what he stole.

He opened the wallet and saw money, a pair of diamond earrings and a diamond necklace! He was so ecstatic he nearly fainted on the front porch. He ran to his mother, told her everything and showed her the diamonds and money. His mother didn't really care that he got it by stealing. In fact, she told him if he thought he could do it without getting caught then he could keep doing it.

After that, Joe kept stealing and never got caught. Their family soon got richer and their father didn't have to work as much. The people in the village knew that there was someone who was stealing, but no one figured out that it was Joe. Their family truly had a happy ever after ending.