The Number Thief #4
(multiples of three)

I was taking a shower,
Or was it a bath?
Thinking of nothing,
No,
Thinking of math...
Bubbles were floating,
No, they were sinking,
My eyes were wide open,
No, I was blinking...

As I lay in the tub,
I thought of math troubles,
As I lay in the tub,
I blew some bath bubbles,
But what were these bubbles?
What did I see?
Each bubble was numbered,
1, 20, 3...

I looked at the bubbles,
With gawks and a gaze,
Thoughts ran through my mind,
Like rats in a maze...

Numbers on bubbles,
Seemed kind of odd,
Like the time I'd met,
Three lemons named Todd...

The fact,
Well it hit me,
Right on the head,
And I remembered the thief,
And what he had said,
The last time I saw him,
The last he'd been seen,
The Number Thief told me,
He was really-real mean,
And he promised to return,
When I was bathing alone,
While sitting in water,
There'd be no one else home...
You see,
My parents had left me,
To go to the mall,
To buy some new bats,
Some gloves, and a ball...

They'd taken my sister,
My fish, the green guppy,
They'd taken my snake,
They'd taken the puppy...
Which meant I'd been alone,
For the past hour and quarter,
Floating in bubbles,
In the warm soapy water...
I saw a face in the mirror,
And I jumped up in fear,
The face of the thief!
The number thief here!!!

I jumped from the bath,
And threw on my clothes,
And ran for my homework,
To homework- thief goes!!!

I had to get there,
Before he could steal 'em,
Numbers from homework,
He was trying to peel 'em,
Steal from the notebook,
Where I'd worked so so long,
Solving math problems,
But he was singing a song...
'Multiples of three,'
Is what he was singing,
Multiples of three,
Both arms were swinging...
Multiples of three,
I thought with some fear,
Threes time tables,
Didn't seem very near,
The front of my brain,
Or the tip of my tongue,
If they were a ladder,
They were the top rung!!!

I did remember some,
But it'd been a long summer,
And as each day passed,
I'd become somewhat dumber...

But the thief didn't wait,
The thief didn't care,
He started his game,
His words filled the air...

The number thief whispered,
He said 9 with a hiss,
He thought I'd forgot them,
He thought I might miss,
He looked up at me,
And he laughed as he grabbed,
A 3 from my notebook,
This made me feel bad...
I reviewed my three tables,
Right there by the table
I had to save homework,
Or I would just fail...

I was thinking of 9,
Its relation to 3,
A thought came to mind,
Like fruits from a tree...
 
3 x 3 is nine,
I whispered and hissed,
I looked at the thief,
I saw he was miffed...
When he heard my answer,
A strange thing did pass,
He flipped upside down,
And started talking real fast...

He said 18 so quick,
Like a cheetah can run,
I said, 3 x 6,
Multiplication's so fun...

The thief got faster,
Like a turbo race car,

Like a bird likes to fly,
From near here to far...

The thief was still there,
With his upside down head,
He squeaked when he talked,
33's what he said...
33, I said slowly,
Not fast like the thief,
Three times eleven
Like a burger's browned beef...

When he heard my answer,
The thief looked perturbed,
Like a baby who's sleeping,
And had just been disturbed...

The thief became faster,
Like a fast-flying bee,
His voice was as high,
As a tall redwood tree...
He squeaked when he spoke,
And he squeaked 21,
I liked the threes tables,
3's tables were fun...
I spoke even slower,
I wanted to tease,
7 x 3's  21
I could do these with ease...

The thief got faster,
He was moving quite quicker,
Like a ball in a game,
Like candlelight's flicker...
I couldn't quite see him,
He was moving so fast,
I couldn't quite see him,
But I heard him at last,
36 he yelled,
 Out loud as he passed...
I giggled and laughed,
And I laughed some more,
12 x 3's 36
As I opened the door...

In one last attempt,
To beat me at threes,
He yelled,
24,
What's that if you please?

I closed my eyes,
As if to relax,
8 x 3's 24,
I know my threes facts!!!

The thief went flying,
Like a speeding airplane,

Right out my front door,
End of math game...
My homework was safe,
Only one number was gone,
The thief had been foiled,
And the legend lives on...

My parents came home,
From their trip to the mall,
I told them what happened,
They didn't believe me at all...
They told me to tell them,
The honest whole truth,
But I wasn't lying,
They could hire a sleuth,
To see I'd been honest,
For my whole honest youth...

But they wouldn't hear it,
They put me to bed,
Without any dinner,
After they said...
Kids that are liars,
Don't ever get fed!
Kids that are liars,
Don't even get bread...

I lay in my room,
Tears in my eyes,
What time is it now?
I asked between sighs...
I wiped away tears,
And looked at the clock,
And what I saw on its face,
Caused quite a shock...
Some numbers were gone,
They'd just disappeared,
And when I saw,
Which 4 numbers,
It was just what I'd feared...
I just wasn't sure,
How I'd ever tell time,
Without,
The 12,
The 3,
The  6,
Or the 9...