He felt a tap on his shoulder and turned. He did not see anyone he recognized. Passersby minding their business moved beside him but a young boy, maybe sixteen or seventeen, shoved him forward. "Hey mister, keep walking please."
What?! The middle-aged man refused to believe that a boy this young could be disrespectful to him. Before the middle-aged man could open his mouth to reprimand him, the boy had moved some feet away.
This middle-aged man realized something. The right pocket of his trousers was light. It should not be. He remembered putting his swollen wallet in his pocket for easy access. The wallet was swollen because he had just exited the bank after a cash withdrawal and pushed the cash into the wallet, making it swell.
Now the wallet and cash were gone.
The middle-aged man froze as sweat beads appeared on his brows and forehead. Impossible, he thought. Then he remembered the young boy that shoved him.
Aha! That could mean the young boy shoved him as a distraction and took his wallet. That scoundrel! He couldn't have gone far.
The man began to push through the big crowd, causing questioning eyes to look his way.
"My wallet has been stolen," he explained to some of the passersby. He searched sideways, then glanced up and saw way ahead of him a pair of big, brown eyes gazing at him.
That was when the middle-aged man realized the boy was roughly dressed with dirt on his face and hair, and parts of his shirt torn. The boy saw he had been found and pushed forward fast, badgering people to move out of the way.
The middle-aged man pursued after him, also shoving people out of his way and quickly following it up with apologies. When some passersby discovered the middle-aged man was pursuing a pickpocket, they joined him and quickly spread the word to those ahead to hold the boy down.
In no time, the boy was stopped and held down.
"You thief!" A young man shouted into the boy's ears while holding his two hands tightly behind his back. "Stealing people's hard earned money?! You will be dealt with such that you would not think of ever returning back to this place or eating your last meal.
I hope you enjoyed reading my piece. This freewrite is inspired by all the prompts of this week. Join the 
