Short Story Collection

A Not-So-Secret Secret Mission [AWARD WINNING PIECE]

 It was a normal day. Well, as normal as things could get at Thicket Lane Middle School. I was cleaning out the third floor bathrooms when I heard a very familiar sound.

"Bleep! Bleep! Bleep!" It was my alarm. Checking the time, I realized it was twelve o'clock, which meant the kids were eating lunch, and no one expected to see a janitor around.

I ran to the janitor's room and shoved my stuff inside. Then, I climbed onto the windowsill in the cramped room and hoisted myself onto the roof. There it lay, the one brick that was slightly out of place.

Pulling as hard as I could, a part of the roof slid open and I jumped. I fell and fell, until I thudded to the ground. Typing my name into the keypad and pressing my thumb on the machine, I waited as a motorcycle slid outside of a compartment in the wall. "Welcome, Gabrielle Martinez." an automated voice boomed. Smiling, I zoomed off into the steadily rising sun.

In the appointed meeting place, my boss stood there with his arms crossed. "You need to find it, Gabrielle," he said, "I need it in a week's time or you're fired." I nodded, "But the kids will suspect something, they're smarter than the teachers about this stuff." "Don't worry about the kids, they're not as smart as you think. They think everything is a game, and won't believe anything. Trust me." smiling, he left the room. I just stood there, thinking about how in the world I could pull this off.

Back at Thicket Lane, I was cleaning out the trash bins when I heard some kids talking. "Have you heard the rumors?" "What rumors?" "The one about the enchanted necklace in the principal's office?" "Bro, you actually believe that?" "Yeah, why not?" Their voices faded off into the distance, but I'd already gotten the information I so desperately needed.

I had a break at one PM, so I took advantage and went to the office for a new broom after I'd accidentally on purpose broke it in half. While the secretary left to get a new one, I snuck to the back of the office and opened the principal's door. I knew that she was off on a trip today, so there would be no one in the office.

Making my way to the jewelry box she kept on a shelf, I picked the lock and saw it, the priceless Magnificent Magenta Marigold emerald necklace. It was enchanted, or so I'd heard. Here's the full story.

One day, a pirate ship was stuck in a whirlpool with no way out. Abandoning the ship wasn't an option, and staying on the ship meant death. The Captain of the ship decided to fight the ocean, at least then they might live a few more seconds.

He ran back to his cabin and brought out the Magnificent Magenta Marigold necklace. It was his wife's and she made him promise to come back in one piece. The Captain had found this necklace in a shipwreck and planned on giving it to his wife when he arrived home.

Now that he knew he would never see home again, he enchanted the necklace by accident. He held the necklace up to the sky and said, "I beg the heavens to keep my family safe. Make my son grow up to be a better man than I, and make my beautiful daughter grow up to marry a rich man who will take care of her. Bless whoever finds this necklace with good fortune and the best of luck. Curse whoever loses this necklace with the worst of consequences."

Then he tossed the necklace up to the sky at the last second and watched it float up to the heavens as he got swallowed up by the waves. That necklace has been missing since, and my job was to steal it. It was so easy, just grabbing the necklace...

But then I heard footsteps and quickly closed the lid, turned off the light, and closed the door quietly. I resumed my seat on the coach just as the secretary came back with the broom. "Have a nice day!" she said cheerily. "You too." Smiling, I left the room. Now all I needed to do was find a way to steal it.

But first, my spy training kicked in and I was immediately paranoid. I'd forgotten to disable the cameras! What if someone saw the footage and put two and two together? When I walked by the computer lab, I froze. My boss had been wrong, the kids were way smarter than I'd predicted.