Three days had passed since Josh and his friends had spent an entire night cleaning a rich man's house instead of robbing it.
Their bodies had recovered, but their pride was still badly injured.
Josh, however, refused to give up.
He believed their first mission had failed because of bad luck, not because his team was completely unqualified to become thieves.
So, three days later, he called an emergency meeting beneath their usual banyan tree.
“Gentlemen, get ready! Our second mission is going to change our lives forever!”
Steve, who was lying on the ground with his eyes closed, opened one eye.
“Will it change our lives by making us rich, or by giving us another cleaning job?”
Josh ignored him.
“This time, I've done proper research. I have a brilliant plan!”
Kiran immediately sat up.
“How much money are we going to get?”
Josh smiled confidently.
“Enough to settle down for the rest of our lives!”
Raju stopped eating his peanuts.
“Does settling down include buying a big house with a kitchen full of food?”
“Raju, can you think about anything other than food?”
“Of course! Sometimes I think about sleeping.”
Steve raised his hand.
“Finally, someone who understands me.”
Josh clapped loudly.
“Can you both be serious for five minutes?”
Jamal looked at his watch.
“Five minutes? That's a very ambitious target for this team.”
Josh took a deep breath and continued.
“Our target is a village just five kilometres from here. Everyone there is rich. Big houses, expensive vehicles, and plenty of money. I've studied everything. If we rob just one house, we can live comfortably for the rest of our lives!”
Jamal raised an eyebrow.
“You've studied everything?”
“Absolutely!”
“Do you know anyone in that village?”
“No.”
“Have you visited the village?”
“No.”
“Then what exactly did you study?”
Josh paused.
“The map!”
Jamal looked at the others.
“Our leader has discovered that people become rich simply by living in the right place.”
“Enough!” Josh shouted. “Tomorrow night, we execute the plan. This time, nobody will stop us!”
Steve lay back down.
“Wake me up when we become rich.”
“Get up!”
“Fine. Wake me up when we become poor again.”
Josh had no idea that their second mission was about to become even more embarrassing than the first.
Midnight: A Village Full of Rich People
The following night, the five friends dressed in dark clothes and gathered at the village entrance.
Josh stood in front of them like a military commander.
“Remember, stay together. Don't speak unnecessarily. And whatever happens, don't panic.”
Raju raised his hand.
“What if we're hungry?”
“That's not an emergency!”
“It is for me.”
At midnight, they entered the neighbouring village.
The streets were dark and unusually quiet. Most of the houses had switched off their lights, and the narrow roads looked unfamiliar.
After walking for a while, the friends began struggling to see where they were going.
Steve pulled out his mobile phone and switched on the flashlight.
Kiran did the same.
Soon, all five were walking through the darkness with their phone lights pointed at the road.
Jamal looked at them.
“Excellent. Five professional thieves, carrying five little lights like a group of children searching for a lost puppy.”
“Keep quiet!” Josh whispered.
Suddenly, the electricity returned.
Streetlights flickered on, and the entire road became bright.
The five friends immediately switched off their phone lights.
Unfortunately, the timing couldn't have been worse.
A group of villagers was standing in the middle of the road, discussing something important. When they noticed five unfamiliar men sneaking around in dark clothes, they stopped talking.
Everyone stared at everyone else.
Josh's confidence disappeared.
Steve slowly moved behind Kiran.
Kiran moved behind Jamal.
Jamal looked at Raju.
Raju moved behind Josh.
Josh turned around.
“Why is everyone hiding behind me?”
Steve whispered, “Because you're the leader.”
“I'm your leader, not your shield!”
Before they could decide what to do, an elderly villager stepped forward.
“Hey! You five! Who are you? I've never seen you here before!”
All five friends began shivering.
The old man looked at their clothes, their nervous faces, and the strange way they were standing together.
“Where have you come from? What are you doing here at this hour?”
Josh opened his mouth.
“Sir, actually, we—”
He couldn't finish.
His mind had suddenly gone blank.
Jamal leaned towards him and whispered, “Tell him we're tourists.”
“At midnight? In black clothes?” Kiran whispered back.
“Then tell him we're night-watchmen!”
“Night-watchmen who are frightened of an old man?”
“Will you two stop talking?” Josh hissed.
The villagers became more suspicious.
“What's going on?” one man demanded. “Why aren't you answering?”
Josh swallowed hard.
“Sir, we came here because—”
Just then, another voice came from the back of the group.
“Wait! I know who they are!”
Everyone turned.
A middle-aged villager stepped forward, looking pleased with himself.
“These men are sweepers! I heard that some workers were coming tonight.”
Josh froze.
Sweepers?
The man continued confidently.
“Tomorrow, there's a big political meeting in our village. We need the entire village cleaned before the leaders arrive. These must be the workers who were arranged for the job!”
The elderly man nodded thoughtfully.
“Oh! That explains everything.”
Josh stared at the man who had just rescued them from questioning.
For one glorious second, he thought their luck had finally changed.
Then the middle-aged man approached them.
“Good! You've arrived just in time. You must finish the cleaning before six in the morning.”
Josh's smile vanished.
“Six in the morning?”
“Yes! The roads, the roadside areas, the public spaces—everything must be spotless. We cannot allow our village to look dirty when the political leaders arrive!”
Josh tried to explain.
“Sir, there's been a small misunderstanding. We're not—”
“Not what?” the man interrupted.
Josh looked at his friends.
Steve shook his head urgently.
Kiran's eyes widened.
Jamal silently mouthed, Don't say it!
Raju looked at the villagers and then at Josh.
Finally, he gave a nervous smile.
“Yes, sir. We are the sweepers.”
Josh closed his eyes.
Their second robbery had officially become a cleaning contract.
And once again, they hadn't earned a single rupee.
The Great Road-Cleaning Mission
The middle-aged man turned towards another villager.
“Ashok! Come here!”
A man named Ashok hurried over.
“Yes, anna?”
“Take these five workers and give them brooms. They must clean every road in the village before six. The political meeting is tomorrow, and we cannot afford any complaints.”
Ashok nodded.
“Come with me, boys.”
The five friends followed him silently.
Steve leaned towards Josh.
“Boss, I have a question.”
Josh looked exhausted already.
“What?”
“Did you secretly change our profession without informing us?”
“Shut up and walk!”
Ashok led them to a small storage area and handed each of them a broom.
Then he pointed towards the main road.
“Start there. Sweep both sides, collect the rubbish, and move to the next street. Don't waste time. I'll check your work before morning.”
He walked away.
The five friends stood together, holding their brooms.
Nobody spoke for several seconds.
Finally, Jamal broke the silence.
“Let me understand our situation. We travelled five kilometres to steal money, and now we're cleaning an entire village for free.”
Kiran nodded.
“Technically, we haven't stolen anything.”
Steve looked at his broom.
“Technically, I hate this team.”
Raju raised his hand.
“Can we ask them for breakfast after finishing?”
Josh turned towards him.
“Raju, if you mention food one more time, I'll make you eat this broom!”
Raju looked at the broom.
“It's too dry. At least give me some curry.”
Jamal burst out laughing.
Even Josh almost smiled, but he quickly remembered their situation.
“Enough comedy! Everyone start working. If we finish early, we can escape before anyone discovers the truth.”
Steve stared at him.
“Escape? Boss, we're sweeping the main road. Where exactly are we going to hide? Under the rubbish?”
“Just work!”
And so, the five members of the Foolish Thief Crew began their second mission.
Not breaking locks.
Not stealing money.
Not escaping from security guards.
They were sweeping roads.
Five Thieves and a Thousand Complaints
The first road was relatively easy.
The second road was longer.
By the third road, Steve had started negotiating with his broom.
“Listen, friend,” he muttered, “if you do the sweeping, I'll take all the credit.”
Kiran was trying to calculate how many streets they had left.
“If we clean one road every twenty minutes, and there are twelve roads, we'll need at least four hours.”
Jamal looked at him.
“Wonderful. You can calculate the time, but can you make the road shorter?”
“No.”
“Then stop calculating and start sweeping.”
Raju, meanwhile, had discovered that sweeping was much harder than it looked.
Every time he pushed rubbish into a pile, the wind scattered it again.
He stared at the leaves flying across the road.
“Who designed this job? We clean the road, and the wind makes it dirty again!”
Steve nodded sympathetically.
“That's called job security, Raju.”
Josh was working harder than everyone else, mostly because he was terrified that the villagers might return and discover they were useless at cleaning too.
“Faster! We have to finish before six!”
Jamal looked at him.
“Why are you shouting? Are you planning to steal the sunrise as well?”
“JAMAL!”
As the hours passed, the village slowly began to wake up.
A few villagers stepped outside and watched the five men sweeping.
One elderly woman pointed towards a pile of rubbish.
“Hey, young man! You missed that corner!”
Josh immediately hurried over.
“Yes, madam!”
Another villager called from across the road.
“Clean near the bus stop too!”
“Coming, sir!”
A third man shouted, “Don't leave the leaves near my gate!”
Josh ran from one side to the other, carrying a broom and trying to satisfy everyone.
Steve watched him for a moment.
“Look at our leader. He's finally becoming successful.”
Kiran looked confused.
“How?”
“Everyone in the village is giving him orders. He's practically a manager!”
Jamal nodded.
“A manager without a salary.”
Raju sighed.
“And without breakfast.”
By five in the morning, all five friends were exhausted. Their clothes were covered in dust, their hands hurt, and their backs ached.
But the roads were finally clean.
They had swept the main road, the smaller streets, the area near the bus stop, and even the road outside the village office.
For the first time in their lives, they had completed a job on time.
Unfortunately, it was a job they had never wanted.
At exactly six o'clock, Ashok returned to inspect their work.
He looked along the clean road and nodded approvingly.
“Excellent! You've done a good job. The village looks much better now.”
Josh forced a tired smile.
“Thank you, sir.”
Ashok patted his shoulder.
“Keep working like this, and you'll get plenty of work in the future!”
All five friends looked horrified.
Steve whispered, “Boss, please tell him we're retired.”
Josh couldn't even answer.
Ashok walked away, satisfied, leaving the five exhausted thieves standing beside their brooms.
The Second Mission: Another Disaster!
The sun began rising over the village.
Josh gathered his friends near a roadside tree.
He looked at their dusty clothes and tired faces.
“Gentlemen, I have an announcement.”
Steve dropped his broom.
“If you're announcing a third mission, I'm going home.”
Josh ignored him.
“Our second mission has been completed.”
Jamal stared at him.
“Completed? We didn't steal anything!”
“We entered the village, avoided being caught, and left without anyone discovering our real identity.”
Kiran thought for a moment.
“That's technically true.”
Steve shook his head.
“Then we should become experts in escaping situations we created ourselves.”
Raju suddenly brightened.
“Actually, I have an idea. Next time, let's target a village with a food festival. If they mistake us for cooks, at least we'll eat for free.”
Josh looked at him in disbelief.
“Our goal is to become rich, not to collect free meals!”
Raju shrugged.
“I'm just saying we should choose our mistakes carefully.”
Jamal laughed.
“That might be the smartest thing anyone has said in this team.”
Josh folded his arms.
“Listen carefully. This failure happened because the villagers misunderstood us. Next time, we'll choose a better target and make a better plan.”
Steve stared at him.
“Boss, both times we had a plan. Both times we ended up working.”
Kiran nodded.
“Perhaps the problem isn't the plan.”
Josh frowned.
“Then what is it?”
All four friends answered together.
“YOU!”
Josh stood silently for a moment.
Then he picked up his broom and pointed it at them.
“Meeting over! Everyone go home!”
The five friends began walking back towards their village, exhausted and empty-handed.
Their first mission had turned into house cleaning.
Their second mission had turned into road cleaning.
And somehow, Josh still believed the third mission would make them rich.
The Foolish Thief Crew was determined to steal a fortune. So far, the only thing they had stolen was time from their own lives.