“All right,” Jerry said. “You know the rules. If you pass under the light and it doesn’t come on, you win.”

“That’s simple,” said Terry. “Watch this.”

Terry ran across the sidewalk.

The motion detector caught her in the act and the light turned on. It was so bright she couldn’t look into it.

Jerry joined her on the other side in full view of the light.

“See! Told you. You’ve got to be quick, Terry. Quick quick quick. Otherwise the detector will see you. I think they have a camera somewhere up there too, so if you get caught, wave towards the light and smile pretty.”

“A camera? Why would they have a camera too?”

“I dunno. Unwanted guests. Maybe they’re too lazy to look out their peephole when someone comes to the door. Beats me. Ask them. All right, the light clicked off. Try it again.”

“No, you go,” Terry said. “Show me how to do it without being caught.”

“Oh, all right. Remember keep a low profile.”

Jerry knew the trick and ran across the sidewalk in the shadow of the step undetected. He waited for Terry to run across before he said anything.

She darted across the sidewalk and the light went on.

“How’d you do it, Jerry?” she asked.

“Notice I ran very very close to the step. You ran out in the open. Boom! See, watch.”

They waited for the light to turn off again.

Jerry zipped across the sidewalk staying close to the step to block the detector.

Terry did the same thing. “This is pretty fun. Think we can go across together?”

“We can try but one of us will set it off. Ready? Go!”

When they got to the middle of the sidewalk, the light went on and the door opened. The dog of the house let out a series of loud barks, and Jerry and Terry kept running until they were completely out of the yard.

“Rex! Settle down. Settle down,” a man holding the dog’s leash said. “It’s just a couple of mice.”

Terry and Jerry hid around the corner from the dog and tried to catch their breath. Their hearts were pounding seven miles a minute.

“That was fun. Good thing it wasn’t a cat or we’d still be running. What do you wanna do next, Ter?” asked Jerry.

“Yeah it was fun,” Terry said. “Got my heart going though. Whew! Oh, I don’t know. Probably should head home. Mom’ll be worried for us being out so late.”

“Maybe you’re right. Stick close though. If that alley cat sees us, he will be all over us. Plus, he doesn’t have a leash like that dog, and he won’t stop until he catches one of us. Remember, if we’re being chased, you go left, I got right. Always.”

Terry said, “Okay, you lead the way, Big Brother. Let’s get home and get some sleep.”

Three Minute Fiction

Terry and Jerry