The TV was on but nobody was watching it. Both Tiny and Hu were fast asleep in the living room. On the table next to the armchair they were sitting was a bowl full of sugary sweets. At least, the bowl was once full. Most of the food was gone now. All was quiet in the house.

Until there was a loud yelp outside.

"You idiot! This is why you need to wear shoes!" a voice hissed outside. Tiny woke up just as another voice growled, "Not my fault they don't make shoes for my species!" By the sound of it, both voices belonged to two older males. Sitting in the armchair, Tiny let out a small gasp as two dark silhouettes passed by the front window. One was a skinny cat and the other was a tall bird with large wings. The cat whispered, "Whatever, let's go through the basement."

Hearing that, Tiny got right to work. Jumping off the armchair as soon as the two men were gone, he turned off the TV and ran around the house turning on the lights. In the meantime, Ozone and Tiberius got down to the basement door outside. Taking his crowbar, the hawk began his attempt to pry the door open. He almost succeeded when Tiny finally turned on the basement light. Startled, Tiberius hissed, "I thought you said they were gone!"

"They were supposed to leave this morning!" Ozone exclaimed, trying to defend himself. Eyeing the door warily, he muttered, "Come on, let's get out of here before someone sees us." With that, the two bandits quickly ran back up the stone steps that had led them down to the basement door. Running silently across the snow, they climbed back into their van and drove away.

With every light turned on in his house, Tiny and his dog Hu were hiding underneath the bed in his parents' bedroom, frightened.