(🌟* Began with a setting description! *) The glass door of the shopping mall slid open, as if welcoming him to its embrace. (🌟* personification! *) A small smile tugged at his lips as the cool air from the air-conditioner caressed his face. (🌟* 5 senses: touch! *) Suddenly, the weariness of Ben’s tiring day at school slid away and immediately he felt the quiet thrum of energy under his skin. Like clockwork, he ran up the escalator and reached his favorite shop in the world for the umpteenth time.

          (🌟* Varied Sentence Structure! *) Being familiar with the shop layout, his eyes skimmed over the titles, looking for the one he wanted to find. His eyes lit up (🌟* SNT: look! *) and his attention was arrested when he found that Wii had launched multiple video games. Ben could barely contain his glee and excitement as he picked up the games with eager fingers. The shop began to fill with ardent game enthusiasts jostling around him, looking at various products in the shop, jostling around Ben (🌟* 5 senses: touch! *) Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the unsuspecting shopkeepers attending to many customers at one time. Seeing the shopkeepers so busy, a sudden thought flitted through his mind, should he steal the video games? (🌟*character thought! *)

          Immediately, Ben shot down the little voice whispering in his mind. (🌟*personification! *) “No, that’s wrong!” muttered the small part of his brain. “But you won’t need to pay for it,” the sinister voice whispered back into his mind. “You can use the extra money for other stuff you want to buy such as the burger you saw on the way back home from school!”

          At that juncture, Ben recalled a memory of his mother’s words, “No legacy is so rich as honesty, my son!” his mother’s favorite phrase from Shakespeare, the refrain echoing in his mind. As the thoughts swarmed his mind like frenzied bees, he brooded over his decision. It was an epic battle between Greed and Honesty. (🌟*personification! *)

          As the small voices in his head shouted at each other, the greedy one eventually won. The thought of not paying a single cent for the games strongly appalled to Ben and helped him to make up his mind. A sly smile curled upon his lips (🌟*SNT: look – sly! *) as greed eventually got the better of him. (🌟*Personification + end of dilemma! *)

          As Ben looked around, peeking at all corners to ensure that the coast was clear. With one clean swipe, the cases containing the games clattered into his bag. They fell in with a soft clatter, easily covered by the chatter in the shop. (🌟*5 senses: hearing! *)  “ This is so easy!” Ben whispered, grinning with satisfaction. Unbeknownst to Ben, a shopkeeper that lingered in the aisle saw his suspicious actions. As Ben made a beeline for the shop’s exit, the alert staff hauled him back by the collar. As Ben was jerked abruptly backward, he stopped dead in his tracks. All eyes were on him (🌟*crowd reaction! *) and the shopkeeper that was bristling with rage shot daggers at him. An unexpected wave of guilt swept over him. How could he have been so stupid?

            The shopkeeper kept his eyes on Ben and nodded grimly. Ben felt his face flushed with embarrassment (🌟*SNT: Look – embarrassed! *) and broke out in cold sweat. The shopkeeper let him off with a warning. Ben was wise enough and swore to himself that he will never steal again. (🌟*lesson learnt!*) As the idiom goes, once bitten, twice shy. (🌟*End with idiom! *)