English Short Stories

The Italy Project

I looked at my sister who was demolishing a training dummy, laughing the whole time. Her jet-black hair whipped around her head and her bright blue eyes burned with glee and determination. She didn't much look like me. My 5'11 to her 5'4 for starters. Then there was my blonde hair and emerald green eyes. I took after my mother, or that's what I've been told.

As if she could tell I was looking at her, she turned, looking me right in the eyes. "And what do you think you are looking at mister?" she asked with a smirk.

"Nothing much," I replied, "just some crazy lady that should have been left on the side of the road."

With a shriek that could have woken the dead, she threw herself at me, her fists and feet flying at an amazing speed. Smiling, I accepted the challenge and soon we were in an all out brawl. Both of us laughing as sweat dripped down our faces. After I had put Jade in a headlock, I leaned down and whispered into her ear, "Give up yet little girl?" I'm older by twelve minutes, and I used that whenever I could.

Panting, she replied without missing a beat, "Not in a million years old man."

This could take a while, I thought to myself. Our sessions could sometimes last for hours on end. As I was preparing for round two, the steel door slid open and in walked Ann. Her name isn't really Ann, but she never told us, so we gave her the name that we thought suited her.

As she walked in with her curly red hair in a tight ponytail, she gave us a stern look that could freeze any adult who got caught in her glare. Of course, Jade just smiled and waved. Sometimes I thought she wanted us to get in trouble. "The Boss would like to speak with you," she told us, never giving up on her glare. "Don't make him wait." With that she just clicked her way out of the training room, leaving us staring after her.

"One day I'm going to cut her hair," Jade calmly stated as we untangled ourselves. I laughed at that, because everyone knew Ann loved her hair more than anything. She once had a man moved to the base in Antarctica because he told her it looked like a forest fire. Now most people keep their opinions to themselves about her appearance hair wise.

"And that is the day she will finally have a reason to kill us," I added with a smile. Jade usually had a hard time thinking about things in the long run. She just liked to rush into things head first. "Well come on," I encouraged, "Let's go to our rooms to shower before we get there."

With a mischievous spark in her eyes, she ran towards the training room door shouting over her shoulder, "Last one there keeps farts in a milk bottle!"

I smirked at her childish contest before racing after her. We ran through the plain white corridors of the center, taking a path that seemed random but was a long memorized route. There were so many passages and rooms down here it's sort of a maze. But after living down here for years, you get the hang of it.

As we crashed into our doors, Jade smiled at me. "I want to see your fart collection," She jibed at me. I stuck my tongue out and went into my room.

After showers and a quick run across multiple corridors, we arrived at the huge wooden doors that belonged to The Boss. I had placed my hand on the palm reader, and it beeped out "Michael Green-Age 16-Clearance Level 7- Cleared." There was a buzz and the doors slid back into the walls, allowing my sister and I access.

Once we had walked in, we took our place in the small circle of light in the otherwise black room. "Michael, you have an assignment," the booming voice of The Boss had echoed in the small room. "You and your sister are to escort an agent to Italy, where they will be receiving documents that contain information connected to the war in Afghanistan, and where the Taliban are getting their weapons and ammunition. This could be key to us winning the war. Do you chose to accept this mission?"