She awoke with a start. She looked around. Where was she? She didn’t recognize anything. She should have been more careful. What would her instructor say now? Speaking of which… Where was he? Suddenly, the girl turned. The door had begun to creak open. Slowly… slowly… it swung open, revealing the person who had silently entered the doorway…


Shakira, or Kira, woke up with a start. Did that just happen? Was it real? Or just a dream? Yep, just a dream. She looked around at her own, familiar teal walls and the familiar carpet. She smelled her pillow. Yep it smelled like cinnamon. Just like it was supposed to. Kira had just decided to get up and get breakfast when… BZZZ! Her alarm went off.


Kira pressed a button. “Yah?” She spoke into the newly revealed mic. “We have a problem. Come down to the school immediately. Over.” “Right. On my way. Annnd…out.” She hurried down the stairs, her hunger had disappeared, grabbed her backpack, and said, “Bye mum. Gotta go or I’ll be late for school.” “But Kira, honey, it’s a Saturday. There is no school.” “Yah, well, my friends and I have something we need to go over. Sorry, bye.” This wasn’t a complete truth, but also not a complete lie. “Bye honey.” Came the response. As soon as Shakira had disappeared around the corner, her mother said, under her breath, “Alright, she just left. She doesn’t suspect a thing.” “Good” came an unearthly voice followed by a low cackle.


“Hey guys, sorry I’m late. Had to think up an excuse for why I’m leaving for school… at 6:30 in the morning, on a Saturday.” “Yah whatever Shakira. Lets get on with it.” “Right. So, why was I called here?” “For a couple reasons. Our instructor just finished explaining to us.” “Right.” “A group of terrorists just entered the country carrying what we think is a nuclear weapon. We don’t know for sure. Your job is to locate, and find out, exactly what the object is.” “Okay. That sounds easy peasy. When do I start?” “Hold on. It might not be as ‘easy peasy’ as you think it is.” “U…huh. And why not?” “We have reasons to believe that… your… mother… is, well, in on this terrorist plot.” “You gotta be kidding me! You think that my mother, who is a… well… sort of dependent on everyone else, is a terrorist? Does she look like a terrorist to you? Well, does she? Didn’t think so. I can’t believe my…” “It takes all kinds.” “…that my mother is a terrorist! Hey, stop! Hold it. What do you mean it takes all kinds? You know what? I’m gonna hurt someone or something pretty soon! Suddenly Shakira picked up a lamp and threw it across the room. It landed with a THUD and then shattered into 1,000 miniscule fragments. Kira looked in horror at what she had just done. But then fury got the better of her. She shouted, “I HATE YOU ALL!” And then she ran from the room with her head down and, with tears streaming down her face, ran as fast as possible and didn’t stop ‘til she had come upon a pretty familiar house. Her dad’s house. Her dad had been an FBI agent, well, he still was. And that’s where she’d gotten her spy genes. Her mum didn’t know she was a spy and that the school she went to was actually a spy school. But her dad did. In fact, her dad had been the one to suggest it. Maybe she could talk to her dad. When Kira had been 7 her mum and dad had started fighting. Pretty soon they wouldn’t even talk to each other. So they had divorced. By that time, Shakira was 9 going on 10. When dad had left, so had half of her heart and soul and even mind. Now she knocked not once, not twice, but three times. A secret signal her dad and she had had before the split. Her dad had never remarried. For one, he wouldn’t be able to tell his new wife about his job, and second, he had loved her mum, it just didn’t work out. Well, also, he was afraid that it wouldn’t work out for the second time. Suddenly the door swung open and out stepped a tall, handsome, dark haired, strong cheek-boned man. Her father.


The girl standing before him had changed from a short spindly little thing to very nicely filled out young lady. How old was she now? He’d lost count over the years. Then she spoke. “I’m fifteen, dad.” Had he been that easy to read? He could tell that she was doing well in the spy department. Again she spoke. “Dad I need help. I got called down to the school for an important mission. It was about a terrorist group. Then they said that mum might be involved. So…yah… I need help.” “Oh? How mad did you get? Just wondering.” “ Not that bad…ok…so I yelled at them… ok… so I told them I hated them… and… well, um… broke a… lamp. I am sorry though.” “Alright. All I know is that your mother has a record with the police. But only for speeding or drunk driving. Stuff like that. Nothing about dealing with terrorists. Sorry.” “No, that’s ok. I was hoping.” “ I will help you though. Where is she now?” “I don’t know. I will be right back.” “Alright.” “Seeya in a bit.” “Yup.” On her way home, Kira stopped to tell everyone sorry for everything. There, she learned some terrible news. “Emergency meeting. We just found something out. We have a big problem right now.” “What?” Everyone started talking at once. “QUIET! SETTLE DOWN!” Everyone immediately shut up. “As I was saying… We have a big problem. The terrorists have seemingly disappeared off the planet!” A collective gasp, then silence.


Kira gently pushed open the door. “Mum? You there?” No answer. “Mum?” Still nothing. “Hey! Anybody home?” Kira stalked to the kitchen. There, on the kitchen table, Kira found the note. It read: Dear Kira,

My work has called

me away for a few months.

Hope you find this.




Love you,



Mum.
“Love me huh? ‘I’m gonna leave my 15 year old daughter for a few months doing who know what but I do love her. I just can’t stay with her forever.’ That’s lame mum, real lame.” And then Kira did what she had always told not to do. She screamed.


“Do they know where we are yet?” “ No.” The low voice penetrated the otherwise silent room. “ No, I am convinced that we will not be found.” “ Alright. My daughter doesn’t know anything. She may be a spy… but she has no idea what’s happening.” An evil chuckle.


Everything went black. Then she woke up. Hmmm, she must’ve fallen asleep. Then she remembered screaming, kicking the wall, spinning around, falling down, and then knocking her head against the coffee table and, before she went unconscious, hearing a loud ‘CRACK’ and then… everything had gone black…

The deadline. In two days. Otherwise, boss would be mad. They had to ship the weapons to him in two days. Karen was worried. Would they get it on time? Maybe she would be able to report back before the plan was carried out. Maybe she could sabotage the mission…


Kira had found something. On the back of the note she had found an invisible note left by mum. Now if she could only find out what it meant… Kira looked around and finally found a tiny flashlight. She shined it on the back of the message.
It said:
Kira, this might look bad, but I’m not with the terrorist group. In fact I’m undercover as a terrorist. I’ve been trying to track down this bunch for who knows how long. Please believe me and please, please, don’t tell anyone about this note. Burn this as soon as you get it. Thanks,



Mum.

Kira was astonished. Should she believe her mum? Or not? She decided she would. What harm could that do?


Still waiting in the doorway, the man shook his head. How had he been able to lie so well? He’d never been able to do that. Hopefully she hadn’t guessed the truth. What would boss say?


Kira was still wondering whether or not to trust her mum, when something snapped. Something told her to look more closely at the note… There. There, on the back, below everything else, was another note.

P.S. Just thought I’d let you know, ack, someone’s coming sorry I can’t finish. I’ll tell you quickly dad’s a…


There was nothing else on the paper. Kira searched the paper once, twice, three times but each time found nothing. Kira jumped up, carefully grabbed the note by one corner, and took off out of the house and down the street. This she needed to report to HQ immediately.


Karen sure hoped that Kira had found the note. She wished she could’ve told Kira about Kira’s dad. But one of the men had moved closer to her and she was forced to stop so that they didn’t see what she was writing. Then she heard something from behind. She whirled around. There were two men standing on either side of her. She tried to stand up. They pushed her down. Then one of them lifted a hand. First she saw stars. And right before she drifted completely into unconsciousness, she realized that one of those men was… her husband… then everything went black.


It’s been about 3 months since the kidnapping of Kira’s mum. When they found her, they also found ‘Boss’. Kira also learned what her mum was trying to say before she was interrupted. Her father had been put in jail. Kira still couldn’t believe that she had thought her mum was a terrorist. Her mum promised never to remarry and just the two of them live in their house. They are still spies, but they tell each other everything.


…The room was white. Too white. Her walls were usually teal. What had happened? Then a man walked in. it was her father. He stood before her. “You may have gotten me this time, but I will get out and then we’ll see what happens.” This couldn’t be happening! No! Not now… just then the alarm sounded. Kira suddenly felt like she couldn’t move, she was tired, so tired… the alarm kept ringing. It wouldn’t stop. Suddenly she sat up, her head and hands both warm with sweat. It had only been a dream, her dad couldn’t escape. She and her mum were safe. But her alarm kept ringing. “What is it?” “We have an emergency… your father… has escaped.”