Chapter Eight
Claire Cao

This was risky, alright. Too risky. Maybe even impossible! The Scream absolutely, positively couldn’t believe Starry Night was making him do this. Now he was going to die, just for the safety of Mona Lisa. Okay, maybe the term ‘die’ was just a little exaggerated, but with a plan like this, anything could happen. He didn’t even like Mona Lisa, so why should he risk his frame for her? When Starry Night had proudly presented her idea, both Mona Lisa and The Scream gasped at each other in horror. Starry Night, of course loved the idea, and didn’t understand why her friends had been so shocked. “They must feel excited,” she thought. “I can’t wait to get this plan started!” The Mona Lisa shook her head, and firmly planted her hands on her hips. Because she was such a goody-two -shoes, she obviously didn’t like Starry Night’s plan. This whole plot was created just to protect her, but with a crazy idea like this, who knew what the results would be? Even The Scream, the obnoxious painting known for his horrible knock-knock jokes and crazy stunts, showed his disapproval by crossing his arms. Of course, Starry Night ignored her friend’s reactions, because, well… Starry Night was Starry Night, and she always had to have her way. Her stubbornness in her ideas often lead to failure, or pretty nasty outcomes, so you could tell why no one was really eager to put her plan into action. The Scream had always been pushed around by Starry Night, and this time, he was not going to follow her instructions, no matter what. Really, who would want to hang above their friend, pounce onto a thief’s shiny bald head, (Who knew what was in the janitors hair? Possibly dandruff?), and hope not to die? When Starry Night had announced every one’s roles, The Scream made a huge fuss about it. He pouted, shouted, cried, and even threw a couple of those leftover muffins. This went on for about a few hours, and when The Scream had finally calmed down from his temper tantrum, he whimpered, “Why can’t Starry Night and I trade jobs? Starry Night merely has to lock, bolt, and chain every exit in the museum so the janitor can’t escape, while I have to actually get physical and fly onto a thief! No fair!” Obviously, Starry Night wasn’t going to give up her easy (and non-dangerous) job. Besides, this was HER plan, and so she got to do whatever she wanted. The Scream was very determined to stand up to Starry Night and back out of her plan. But, later that evening, he found Starry Night hoisting him up onto a wall above Mona Lisa anyway. Starry Night promised she would come help The Scream the moment she was done her part, but he highly doubted it. The Scream knew, because if Starry Night was being attacked by the janitor, he’d run and save himself, without another thought. Starry Night had carefully planned out the whole thing. She had analyzed her diagrams very closely, had worked out some sort of strategy, and even made herself a little ninja costume from the cafeteria tablecloths. It wasn’t necessary, but she thought it had the ‘spy’ kind of feel to it, which she was aiming for. While Starry Night was feeling confident and ready, The Scream was sweating so hard, he could feel the expensive polish on him melt down and drip beneath him. He didn’t dare to look down, but he could hear numerous plops from down below, which meant his polish had dripped onto Mona Lisa’s head. The Scream didn’t do it on purpose, but he decided it was payback for what Mona Lisa’s tears did to his canvas. The churning in The Scream’s stomach was so fast he was sure he was going to vomit all over Mona Lisa as well. She seemed like she was miles below him. The Scream gulped. He had a long list of things he was terrified of, including a fear of flash photography, and being claustrophobic. But worst of all, he was scared of heights! His little feet dangled in midair, and from the