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A New Case

I woke up in my room, sunlight barely pouring through the cracks of the blinds from my one window. Still, one window is better than none. My head was swinging as usual but I had to get up, so I decided I'd take an Advil in the kitchen later.

I practically flopped out of bed and dragged my feet to the musty window and tugged at the string. Light flooded into the room, revealing stray dust particles around me. Squinting my eyes, I attempted to look outside. 

Trees were everywhere in our backyard. They lined the place like a fence would, in which the rising sun complimented their leaves. Unfortunately, most of the grass was dying. Hm, it's probably as dry as my mouth.

So I went to the kitchen, completely forgot my Advil, and got a glass of water. It seemed like a pretty normal weekend. 

Then my mom burst through the saloon door, "Marie! We've got a promotion!" I, still half-asleep, gave an emotionless thumbs-up. So she waved a manila folder in her hand and pointed at it, "And we got a new case!"

~*~

When I came back to life, I was lying on our red couch. As usual, my head swung as I tried to sit up using my elbows. I didn't want to think at the moment, but the memory of my mom saying we got a new assignment was pressed into my mind. I woke up on a normal day until my family got a promotion, making me faint ten minutes after waking up. There's only three of us anyway, so might as well roll with it. 

About that case, my family and I are all spies working for the Preservation of Priceless Artifacts. It's exactly what you think it is. We find precious artifacts and seal off the entrances to where they are kept. The company wanted me because I was a child, and apparently, I'm supposed to 'liven up the place' and have ideas to help them like creating 'Indiana Jones' traps. 

After a few moments of trying to lift myself up, my mother ran into the room with a steaming hot bowl of soup and let me brace on her. "What have I told you to do when you have a fever, little one?", she cooed. I raised my index finger, "I'm no child," I pointed at the bowl, "but if that's cheddar soup, I'll totally take it."

She laughed, "You're always my little one." Feeling uncomfortable, I inhaled, "Okay, I'll eat this now." I made sure to blow on my spoonful and eat slowly.

I get fevers a lot. It's not that my immune system is weak, I'm quite strong in my opinion, but it's probably all the work I'm given. My brain isn't fully developed yet, so doing architecture at the end of my middle school years is probably not going to do me well, but I like what I do. 

I rested my head on her shoulder and spoke softly, "So what about that case? I might not be in shape to do anything, but I really wanna hear about it." "Well, I was going to save the file until your father gets home..." "But we're going to read it anyway?" She joked, "You're so manipulative." I nudged her, "At least I know where I got it from." She playfully frowned, "Hey!"
She elbowed my side, "Okay, I'll go get that file. Sit up." I did so and felt the couch slightly rise up as my mom stood. She stretched a little and waltzed out of the room through the saloon doors.

Now that I think about it, I never knew why we had those doors. My dad joined the company for his love of crazy trinkets while my mother always loved old fashioned things. I believe that's one of the reasons she partnered with my dad in the Preservation of Priceless Artifacts. They met maybe fifteen years ago when they got assigned the Finch File. That was one of the best cases I've heard about!

It was about a bird they thought was extinct, but there was really only one left on Earth, specifically underwater. The birds are very adaptable, so this one actually learned to live on land and in the ocean! My parents went through a lot in that mission because of those mean Price Passers. The Price Passers are this terrible organization that does the complete opposite of what we do. They steal artifacts and put them up for auction.