The Secret of The Sun

How do you feel when you get turned upside down? You feel light headed and dizzy right, cuz’ you’re upside down! That can perfectly describe how I felt yesterday...a cool, misty autumn day. I was walking down the alleys of Seattle trying to get home. It was starting to drizzle, no surprise there. Seattle was called the “Emerald City” for a reason.  But I still hadn’t gotten used to the frequent rain showers in this city. Ugh, AND I forgot my umbrella. Seriously?! You’d think that I’d be an expert by now on adjusting to new places, after moving 10 times, but I’m not. My MOM is the expert adjuster in our family.

You’re probably wondering, “ Why has this poor girl moved 10 times?!”. The best way to explain is using the solar system. OK, so in my  family my dad and his job are the sun. My mom, little brother and sister, dog, older brother (he’s a special case), and I are the planets, revolving around them. The reason I say my older brother is a special case is because he’s in college, away from us most of the time. So my dad’s gravity over him is weaker (remember, my family's like a solar system). Now what kind of job makes you have to move 10 times and counting? The job of a lead graphic specialist in movies.  Queue the screaming fan girls asking if I get to meet the movie stars. Well the answer is ya I DO get to meet them, but it’s not as amazing as it seems! They’re not as amazing as they seem on screen. In real life they don’t really talk to us normal people, they stick to their own squad. So I stay away from them most of the time when we go to parties my dad’s invited to.

It was raining pretty hard by now so I ran home hoping I wouldn’t trip and fall on my face. As I was nearing my house I saw that there was a black van parked in our driveway. The van looked out of place next to my mom’s gold car. I rushed inside confused as to why the van was there, and I was greeted by my fur baby, Skye. She covered me in puppy kisses which I tried to wipe off, but it was a losing battle. My mom came into the foyer looking tense. “ Somebody from dad’s work is here Meena, please keep the other kids quiet upstairs.”, she said with quiet intensity. I was confused, why is mom acting so tense? It’s just one of dad’s co-workers...right? Something told me it wasn’t that simple.

I climbed the stairs littered with toys and little mementos courtesy of Akhil and Aishu (short for Aishwarya), my little brother and sister. Akhil is a year older than Aishu (Akhil is 3 and Aishu is 2) so they’re basically inseparable. Partners in crime, my parents like to call them. My brother and I were like them too. But that was before we grew up and had to face the real world. I could hear little kid screams of delight in the bonus room. They basically left a path of toys and other things to guide me to them:). I heard them yelling “En garde!!” and “Walk the plank!”. Sounds like they were playing a game of pirate sword fighting. I walked in and there was silence. The kind of silence filled with expectation, like the silence before the clap of thunder. The moment broke and they screamed “ MEENUUU!!!”, that’s their name for me. They tackled/hugged me and I had to pretend I was being “crushed”. They finally released me and asked,” Why are you here Meenu? Shouldn’t you be at volleyball practice?”. What they said actually sounded much more baby-ish and cuter, but I’ll spare you the baby talk. They were right though; I had missed volleyball practice! Aw crap coach was going to kill me! Whatever, Mom could write me a pass. I was jolted back to reality by Akashi’s screams of delight as Akhil tickled her. I remembered what had brought me upstairs in the first place. As they ran around the room screaming, I braced myself for the worst and told them to be quiet in the most serious voice I had. And God must have worked a miracle or something because they quieted down and started coloring in there coloring books! Relieved that that crisis was averted I went to my dad’s office room to get my laptop to do homework. We aren’t supposed to go in there, but Dad lets me anyway. He’s mainly just worried about the littles messing up his filming equipment, so that gives me a free pass. I crept inside his office like a burglar sneaking into somebody's house. Even though I’m allowed to go inside, it’s still a room of reverence that most of my childhood dares were about. As I crept across the plush red velvet carpet, I noticed some papers astray on my dad’s desk. Being the clean, organized child I am I went to go straighten them up. I noticed the big red stereotypical CLASSIFIED warning signs on one of his files, buried deep underneath everything else. Since my dad was a movie graphic specialist, I assumed that the file was something to do with one of the movies my dad’s done. I opened it cautiously, in case some papers fell out. A paper marked CLASSIFIED FBI CASE in bright red caught my attention. It said:

March 21, 2017    6:27 pm

Agent M Jay,

     We’re sorry to have contacted you this late in the game. We know that you’ve quit the FBI Elite for 16 years, but we are in a time of need. We’re dealing with a big, far reaching organization, and their mission is to dissolve the FBI. We know that the last time you helped us or worked for us haven’t worked out well for you. We promise that your family will be our top priority, and will be under constant surveillance (secretly, of course). Should there be a danger or threat to their well-being we will immediately be there defending them with our very lives. And the team that would be protecting them would be the best of the best, the people who are the toppers in each of their categories. We are deeply indebted to you as it is, and at your mercy. But please, please consider this with all your heart. I sincerely hope to see you soon.

  Captain Ray Sun 3675

FBI Elite      

     I put the letter down with shaking hands, and heart pounding a 1000 miles a minute. What does this mean? What does this mean?!! That’s all I thought about as I cleared all the traces that I was in the room, and had gone through Dad’s papers. If this letter was real and it was telling the truth….then my whole life had been cloaked with lies.  

      I walked back to the bonus room like I was a sleepwalker. Head drooping, glassy eyes, and I certainly felt I was in a sleepwalker’s trance. It felt as if my body wasn’t my own.. I was just a viewer watching from above. The girl I was watching looked sad, shocked, disappointed, and angry all at the same time, her face a whirlwind of emotions. And her mind was a battlefield. The small, quiet side wanting to unsee all she had seen, and the side that was already calculating, connecting, and conforming to this shocking new idea (or truth?). Didn’t she quiet down Akhil and Aishu just 15 minutes ago? Funny how your life change be turned upside down in the matter of 15 minutes and 37 steps.

     I was jolted back into my body when I heard Akhil and Aishu screaming like somebody was hurting them. I instinctively ran into the bonus room, ready to defend them from their mystery attacker. When I entered face flushed and hyper-aware, I saw that their “mystery” attacker was just my Mom trying to get them to stop playing and take their baths. Of course it was my mom, who else would it be? I was really out of it. Obviously my siblings weren’t paying any attention to my Mom’s hushed, whisper-yells of “Quiet down! Daddy’s talking to someone very important!” My mom saw me and the look on my face and shot me a concerned motherly look. Having to shout to be heard over the whining of Akhil and Aishu, she pleaded,” Can you please get them to take their baths?”. “Ya, sure” I replied still distracted from the papers. My Mom sensed my unease and asked with a concerned look “Meenu are you ok? Your face is flushed and your sweaty. Are you catching something?”. “No Ma, I’m fine”, I lied hastily, trying to escape. “I’ll go and give Akhu and Aishu their baths Ma. Afterwards I’ll start my homework”. As I said homework I remembered that I had forgotten to get my laptop from Dad’s office room. Caught up in the secrets of the papers I’d forgotten what’d brought me there in the first place.  “Ok Meena, but be sure to tell me if anything is wrong OK?” she said looking relieved. “Ya, ok Mummy”, I replied trying to sound and look normal. As though I had passed a test only my Mom could see she nodded and let me go, so I dragged Akhil and Aishu into their bedroom and told them to choose what they wanted to wear to sleep. I left them to inevitably mess up the closet and made my way to my Dad’s office room. This time I was only there for the my laptop, or at least that’s what I told myself. HA HA, wrong. As I crept in, it was as if my feet had a mind of their own and the papers on my Dad’s desk were pulling me towards them. That’s how I found myself in front of them again and faced with the decision to pry deeper and feel even worse, or leave it be and don’t mess with it. Guess what your girl chose? Ya she chose to try to untangle this mess of confusion in her mind and heart.

     As I was leafing through Dad’s paper’s I realized that Dad had received the Classified letter around 2 months ago. 2 months ago, Dad had left for a 3 weeks to go to Peru and came back with a couple of bruises. He said he just fell a couple of times in the forests where they were shooting the movie because of the thick underbrush. But now I wasn’t so sure if he actually went to Peru in the first place! Maybe that was just a ruse to hide the fact that he went back to his old FBI base. This whole new world of secrets, lies, and guards that I discovered 1 hour ago is terrifying!

I forced myself to put the files down, clean the traces of my disturbance, and leave with my laptop in hand.

     I stepped into Akhil and Aishu’s room to see that they had NOT messed up their closet! They were obediently sitting on the bottom bed of their bunk bed, playing mancala. I called them and they ran up and tugged me to their game. They were arguing about who won and I tried to alleviate it by saying,” Last one in the bathtub is a rotten egg!”. That immediately kicked them into high gear, they both ripped their clothes off and ran into the bathtub, both screaming, “I WIN, I WIN!” again paying no heed to both mine and Mom’s warnings about to be quiet. “You have to be quiet otherwise I won’t let you play pirate!”, I shouted. That got them quiet immediately. I lathered their tiny baby heads with shampoo and played pirate with them, getting dripping wet in the process. After I dried myself, I got them dried and clothed. It was adorable seeing them squirm as I put their onesies on. They have the tendency to run around with only towels covering themselves. I couldn’t let that happen today of all days, when one of Dad’s very important coworker (according to my mom) was in our house! So I trapped them in the bonus room and told them to play quietly. If they didn’t the monster would come and get them. I left them do whatever they did when no one was watching, and made my way down the stairs. With all I know now, I’m 90% sure that Dad’s very important coworker is somebody from the FBI…. A realization hit me. If the person in our house really was an FBI agent, then Mom was in on it the whole time! Otherwise, why would she be so tense? Most of dad’s coworkers as nice, chill people, that she doesn’t need to feel tense over. If I’m right, I know exactly who to go to.

     I slinked down the stairs, quiet as a cat. As I slid down the hallway to get to the library, I heard a muffled conversation in the sitting room. I could make out snippets of the conversation like, “Bomb”, “Attack on the building!”, “Peru, dusty fields”, and “mountain climbing…”, none of which made any sense. I knew I was downstairs for Mom, but I couldn’t let this opportunity pass by. I pulled out my phone and started recording their conversation. I stayed with my ear pushed against the door and holding my phone recording for a good 15 minutes. I hadn’t understood half of what they’d said but I could use the recording to my advantage in the future. I only stopped recording when I heard them standing up. That was my cue to leave, and I almost got caught. I slid into the closet at the last second. They walked out and my dad said surprised,” Oh..What’s Meena’s phone doing here? Eh, Aishu or Akhil must’ve taken it and dropped it.” My blood ran cold. How could I have forgotten my phone? I prayed it wasn’t still recording. In a tense silence I waited for them to pass. After what had seemed like a thousand years, I heard them walk off and the front door close. I leapt out from my hiding place and sprinted up the steps, trying not be seen as ran into my room, where I collapsed on my bed, huffing and puffing like the Big Bad Wolf. Finally, after my heart stopped racing I recollected my thoughts. Now that I thought about it, the information I had learned did make a little sense and made things a little bit clearer. With the information I had, I had pieced together that their FBI base was in Peru, but in high altitudes, so it required you to climb the mountains. Even though it’s secluded, it was receiving bomb threats and there’ve attacks on the building. I couldn’t make sense of the “dusty plains” though. What could that possibly be? Thinking about all of this drained my energy and suddenly all I wanted to do was sleep. I wanted to stay awake to do my homework, but I was saved by my studiousness! I realized that I’d done all my homework the day we got it, so I could do anything I wanted. Knowing this, I surrendered to the waves of sleep crashing over me, and let them pull me under.

     I woke up to Akhil and Aishu jumping on me. I was still half asleep so their voices sounded like they were far away. I turned around to fall back asleep, and saw that it was 8 am! 8 am by no means is sleeping in for me, but I wanted to get an early chance to snoop around Dad’s stuff. Akhil and Aishu woke me up before my alarm went off, which was set for 8:30 am. Might as well get up, I thought to myself. Akhil and Aishu were pulling me out of bed now, though it didn’t do anything. I surrendered to them and got up. Their voices still sounded far away so I couldn’t hear what they were saying. I walked to my mirror and blinked the sleep from my eyes. I finally heard what they screaming…” Rohitha is here!!!!!”. “What, really?!!!?” I yelled, my voice going up an octave. “Ya he’s hereeeeeee!”. That’s all the confirmation I needed. I ran downstairs, still in my clothes from yesterday, with my very fashionable bedhead. And there, in the family room, I saw my brother sitting there in all his glory. He hadn’t seen me yet, so I snuck up behind him and jumped yelling,” SURPRISE!”. He fell forwards onto the carpet, laughing and counterattacked, wrestling me to the ground and tickling me till I screamed “Stop, stop, TRUCE!”. He relented and I jumped on him again, this time I was just hugging him. He hugged me back and stood up, giving me a piggyback ride. In the background I heard Mom and Dad laughing. Rohit circled back to the family room and saw that my parents were in tears because they were laughing so hard. “What are you laughing about?”, we asked in unison. “Nothing, it’s just...When you guys were little, you said you hated each other. Look at you now!”, they said, saying hated with air quotes. I rolled my eyes. Of course they would bring that up now. “No, we still hate each other, don’t we Minni Mouse?”, I nodded. “She’s just letting me know how much she despises me coming home.”, he said with a mischievous gleam in his eye. Ha, take that Mom and Dad! I got off and sat down, eager to know what’s happened since he last came home. “What did you do in college?”, I asked. ‘Eh, nothing much. Just the usual homework, classes, waiting to come back home. Oh ya mom! The food on campus sucks! I’m craving the food you make every day!”, he said sincerely. Cue Mom asking Rohit if he wants to eat anything. “Nah, I’m good. It was just an hour drive Ma.”. “Ok fine, but make sure you wash up! We’re going to Wild Waves!”. “Oh, and pack a drawstring bag with your swimsuits, extra clothes, and anything else you need. Tell Akhu and Aishu too!”, Mom ended breathlessly. “Ok”, we said making our way up the stairs. Akhil and Aishu were waiting for us on top of the stairs. “We heard everything and we’ve already packed our stuff!”, say proclaimed proudly. “Sure you have. You wanna help us pack?”, Rohit asked. “ Ya, ya, ok!”, they squealed in delight. Akhil ran into my room and Aishu stumbled after him on her baby feet. He doubled back and helped her into my room. My heart melted, they were soooo cute! We followed them into my room, and they already had everything set on my bed. They moved on to Rohit’s room and got his stuff set in 2 minutes. We were laughing as they did all of this because they were concentrating so hard on getting everything set, it was adorable! I went back into my room to actually get my stuff ready to find that Akhil and Aishu were mostly correct on everything down to the smallest detail, like my sunscreen! I just had to get my comb, some rubber bands, my goggles, and put them in my bag. Well, that was easy. I went into Rohit’s room to see if they were done, and saw that they were playing Monopoly. “Guys we have to eat breakfast now!”, I reminded them. “Awww no! 5 more minutes…..?”, they pleaded hopefully. “Do you wanna play Minni?”, Rohit asked. He never changes. He’s a 5-year-old in an 18 year olds body! “Oh ya Meena wait! I forgot, Dad told me to give you your phone.”, I yelled. “Oh ok, thanks!”, I said hurriedly, taking the phone from him and leaving. In the excitement of Rohit’s arrival, I forgot to snoop!

     I rushed into Dad’s office and started reading through his files right away.  There was a new letter on his desk, already opened. I picked it up and started reading.

     June 17, 2018           9:47 am

Agent M Jay,

     Thank you so much for meeting with Agent Cooper yesterday! We’re delighted that you agreed to join the FBI Elite, albeit temporarily. We’ll send you your flight tickets via email to go to Peru. You’ll be leaving on Saturday. Agent Cooper will be the leader of the squad that will protect your family. In your last email you said that you had a son that was in college.  Don’t worry he’ll be protected as well.

      Our sources inform us that there is a strike being planned next Thursday afternoon. When you reach the base, it’ll be your assignment to figure out the details of their attack and pass that information along to one of the Captains. Safe journey!

   Captain Ray Sun 3675

  FBI Elite

     I put the letter down not surprised and feeling triumphant because I was right. I’d already made these assumptions yesterday. But I didn’t want to be right! According to this letter Dad was supposed to leave to Peru TOMORROW! Click, click. The door handle turned. I frantically shoved the letter back into the envelope and hid behind Dad’s reading chair. Dad walked in the room quickly and closed the door. He let out a breath, as if in relief and sat down at his desk. I heard his gasp of surprise when he saw the letter haphazardly stuck back into the envelope. “Someone’s been here and has read my letter.”, he murmured to himself. “It was probably Akhil just messing around…. yes, it had to be Akhil. Nobody else would’ve left the letter like this. I should tell Aditya that I’ll be leaving to Peru.”, he said. He got up and his footsteps got closer to me. Closer and closer...and closer until he stopped. I thought for sure that he’d heard me breathing and now was coming to find me. But he was just making his way to the door, presumably to scold Akhil for something he didn’t do. Dad left and I let my breath out. I hadn’t realized I’d been holding it until now.

I had another confirmation! Mom was in on Dad’s secret life this whole time! Now all I had to do was coax the truth out of her!

      I crawled to the door and looked under to check if the coast was clear. I hesitantly opened the door. Nobody was in the hallway so I got up and went to Rohit’s room. They were still playing Monopoly! When I entered I saw that Aishu had won the game. “Guys, come on we really have to go now!”. “Ok, we’re coming!” they groaned. With all my sibling in tow, we walked downstairs. “What took you so long?”, Mom asked. “They were playing Monopoly”, I replied. “Did you get Akhil and Aishu’s stuff ready?”. “Ya, we did Ma”, Rohit replied. “Ok now let’s eat some pancakes!”, Rohit proclaimed. We all ran to the dining table and got started on our pancakes. Dad joined us 5 minutes later. I looked up, trying to see if I would notice a change in his face. Nope, he looked absolutely normal. “You guys ready to have fun at Wild Waves?”, Dad asked with enthusiasm.

 “Yes!”, said everyone with mild differences in enthusiasm. We all finished eating our pancakes, so we cleaned ourselves and the table up. One by one we piled into the car and started our drive to Wild Waves.” Is Skye gonna come with Mommy?”, Akhil asked hopefully. “No Akhu. Skye is getting a full checkup, grooming, and training class today!”. “ Awww ok”, Akhil said disappointedly. The rest of the 30-minute car ride was in silence. Today was one of the rare sunny days in the Emerald City. Everything looked like emeralds! Green and sparkling! I debated over telling Rohit about all of this. Should I? I wanted to, but I was afraid he’d go to Dad immediately and confront him. Rohit was always the more confident of the siblings.  I decided against telling him for now. Maybe I would when I got more information.

      We got to Wild Waves and did the typical things you would do at a waterpark. Took pictures, swam, dunked each other in the water, and had water fights parents versus kids! It was really fun and took my mind off Dad’s FBI thing. Suddenly the sun was setting and it was time for us to go! As they say, time flies when you're having fun! Akhil and Aishu fell asleep on the way back home, so it was just Mom, Dad, Rohit, and me. So we told stories! Stories of when we were little, when Mom and Dad were little, and everything thing in between. I was laughing so hard I fell over and saw a Swiss Army knife in the bottom of our car. It must be ancient, Rohit and I hadn’t been to boy or girl scouts in 10 years! I smiled. Girl scouts was my favorite thing in the world when I was 7. I put it in my back pocket glad I’d found it. Yup, it was a fun car ride home alright! Filled with stories and finding lost treasure! I felt like a pirate finding a treasured sword after 10 years.

      Dad drove into our garage and we all got out, tired and smelling like chlorine. In Akhil and Aishu’s case, sleeping and smelling like chlorine. I don’t know how to explain it, but something felt off. I didn’t know what was off, but I could feel that something was wrong. We walked inside and there was an eerie silence and darkness. Weird… all the lights were off. But we had left some of them on. The floor creaked as I went to go turn on the lights. I realized why the silence was so eerie. The “Beep beep beep beep beep!” of our home security system hadn’t happened. I turned on the lights, illuminating our house. And the masked faces of 5 people with guns pointed at us.

     My blood ran cold. “STOP! Don’t move or make a sound! Otherwise we shoot!”, they yelled. I heard my dad gasp. And my mom screamed. They shot. But it didn’t hit anybody, thank god. I don’t remember screaming at all. I guess I was in shock.  They made us follow them to a car and get in. Then they made us blindfold ourselves. I heard Rohit murmur angrily,” What’s happening?”.” Rohit, please don’t do anything! You’ll get us killed!”, I whispered fiercely. “ NO TALKING!”, they yelled. The rest of the car ride was in silence.

    I don’t know where we were or how long we’d been driving, but when I looked outside it was still pitch black. These people must be the people trying to dissolve the FBI. They must’ve somehow figured out that Dad was going to Peru tomorrow to help the FBI. We were all huddled together with our bags full of clothes. We took turns changing into warm clothes in the darkness of the car. It was a miracle that Akhil and Aishu hadn’t woken up yet. 4 maybe 5 hours later, the car rolled to a stop. The people told us to get out, take our blindfolds off, and put our hands where they could see them. We were in front a warehouse looking thing with floodlights illuminating our captors. They were wearing uniforms with the letters STN stitched on their backs. I tried to memorize the license plate number, I hope to catch these idiots after all of this is over... If it would ever be over. The license plate number was SNT-2759. They ordered us to follow them into the warehouse. We followed and saw that the “warehouse”, wasn’t a warehouse at all! It was made to look like that, but it was actually a base for the...STN? I assumed that that was the organization's name. Our 5 masked attackers left us with a tall buff man with a brown beard. He ordered us to empty our pockets of anything. Our pockets! I remembered I had a Swiss Army knife in my back pocket! The man left to go talk to someone on the top floor and somebody else came to watch us. In the time where nobody was watching I carefully took the knife out and put it in my shoe. Now I had somewhat of a defense against the STN.

     The night was filled with gruff orders and no answers at all. They forced us to split up, Women and children one cell and men in another cell. That was Dad’s breaking point. He yelled desperately,” It’s me you want, just take me! Leave the rest of my family alone!”. Our captor didn’t say anything, he just pointed the gun to dads face. That made him and Rohit move into the cell. He made us go into another cell, which we went in without protest. Mom waited until we were alone to cry. She let out cries of gut wrenching, body racking, sobs of anguish that scared me. I’ve never heard Mom cry like that...or cry ever. She went on like that for at least 5 more minutes. She stopped and just looked at the wall helplessly. Well…..horrible circumstances, but there’s no time like the present! So I decided to ask Mom about the truth.

     “Mom…..I know that Dad was an agent for the FBI. And I know that he’s temporarily back with them right now. Why was he part of the FBI in the first place? I thought Dad was a graphic specialist! And If I’m correct, Dad must’ve quit when Rohit was born or sometime around then..why did he quit? And why didn’t you tell us?!”, I wheezed out in a single breath. Mom looked shocked. She knew that there would be no point in trying to feign ignorance, so she started to explain.

     “Meena you have to understand that we didn’t tell you for your own protection! Besides, you weren’t even born yet when Dad quit the FBI! Your dad quit because 16 years ago, when Rohit was just a baby, one of the FBI’s enemies attacked Rohit and I when I was driving.”, she said tearing up. Regaining her composure, she continued,” A car purposely crashed into us, leaving Rohit and I hospitalized. We didn’t know if Rohit was going to survive..he was just months old Meena…”. Mom looked like she was reliving the horror of that day. I felt horrible for putting her through this, but I had to know.” I had a broken arm and several cuts on my face and body. Rohit’s injuries were much worse. He was just a baby! His ribs were crushed and there was blood everywhere…. he had barely any chance of survival Meena. But he fought through it and survived! I’ll always thanks God for that. So when we were in the hospital, Dad was seething with fury at the people who hurt us and at the FBI. He thought that we would be protected at all times. On a quest for vengeance he tracked down perpetrators and followed them for weeks. Gaining information on each and every one on them. They all worked for this organization called the STN, the place we are right now. I don’t know what Dad did but he fulfilled his quest and came back to Rohit and I. He quit his job at the STN swearing he would never ever help them again.” Mom finished. “But Mom, how did Dad get involved with the FBI in the first place and what about his graphics specialist job? Why is he back with the FBI after all of that??”, I asked craving for a final answer. “Oh, that’s easy enough to answer. Dad is a whiz with the computer, which you already know. In high school there were scouts looking for people who were talented in with computer skills. They saw Dad’s skills and were shocked. They recruited him right away. That’s basically how he got in and stayed in for 9 years. He’s back with them because they were asking him to help him stop the STN. Even though Dad got his revenge, he still wanted to see the end of the STN once and for all. So he agreed to help them temporarily. As for his graphics specialist job, Dad is intelligent. So to make a good, comfortable living, he learned other computer skills. So he learned all about graphics and stuff like that, applied for a couple of jobs, and got all of them! All he had to choose was one, so he chose the one with a movie company and has been there ever since. All the times we’ve moved were because of Dad’s graphics job.”, Mom finally finished, looking a little happier.  I finally had all the answers...but I didn’t feel triumphant. I felt defeated. It seemed like we would never escape the clutches of the STN.    

     Akhil woke up 10 minutes after Mom finished her explanation. And Aishu woke up 10 minutes after that. Mom told them that we were playing a game and anybody that wasn’t me, her, Dad, or Rohit were the bad guys. If they didn’t listen to what Mom said, the bad guys would take them forever and never give them back to Mommy. After that they clung on to Mom and I like a sloth to a tree. It must’ve been morning by then because my watch read 5:47 am. We heard footsteps outside and people yelling. Then a siren went off.

      The door was kicked down and men with masks streamed in the room. “We’re here to help! We’re with the FBI and your being rescued please follow us quickly!”, they yelled quickly. BANG! Bullets were fired at us from all sides. I felt a sharp pain on my arm. It was bleeding! A bullet must’ve skimmed me. We followed them into a helicopter leaving a trail of bullets in our wake. The agents were shooting at all our attackers with no mercy. BANG! More shots fired, this time hitting an agent. He slumped and fell. Agents shouted in disbelief. They hauled him into a different helicopter, and threw us in the one that was next to it. “WAIT! What about my husband and son?!!”, Mom screamed. “We have them Mrs. Kumar, your son is safe. Your husband may not live through the night.”, an agent replied. “WHAT?!?!?!!” Mom screamed. “He’s been hit twice with bullets and has slit wrists. We’re tending to him the best we can.”, the agent said calmly. Mom fainted. Akhil and Aishu cried out in fear and I comforted them. “Mommy’s just sleeping. She’ll be ok”, I said. “Promise?” they asked. “Promise.”

  ROHIT

They threw us into a cell and locked it up tight. There was no way we could’ve gotten out. I looked at Dad for answers. He sighed in defeat,” I used to work for the FBI. But 16 years ago one of their enemies, the ones that have us locked up right now, hurt you and Mom very badly. We knew Mom was going to survive but we weren’t sure about you. You were just months old Rohit! Nobody thought you would survive. I was hungry for revenge so, long story short, they got what they deserved.”. I looked at dad finally understanding what was going on. After a night of confusion and terror, this was something I could cling to. “So, how are we getting out?”, I asked. Dad’s eyes gleamed,” Rohit I thought you’d never ask.”

     You would think that a person in my situation would be terrified and huddled in a corner crying, right? That’s true some people would do that. And I was terrified! But there was no room to show it, or act on fear when the lives of your whole family are at stake.

“How are we going to do this Dad?”, I asked. “Ok so here’s what we do. We sleep until 5am, its 2 am right now, so we’ll have 3 hours to sleep. You need to gain some energy for the escape we’re planning.”, Dad seriously. There was no sign of fear on his face. Just determination. Cold hard determination. “What are we going to do at 5am Dad?”, I asked. “At 5am we wake each other up. And then Rohit I’m going to slit my wrists-”, I interrupted, “WHAT?! No WAY!”, I yelled! “Hear me out Rohit! I’m slitting my wrists so you can get help. I’ll start slitting my wrists right when you scream for help. When the guard comes you should take the phone that’s crudely attached to his pants, and you have to press the home button and lock button for 10 seconds. Right as 10 seconds is up you have to say loud enough so only the phone car hear, SOS FBI. The FBI will get a distress call with our GPS coordinates and will respond immediately. After your done with the phone just throw it close to the guard and try not to act suspicious.”, Dad finished, sounding like he’d done this before. I guess he had, since he was part of the FBI and all. “Oh, and Rohit! You have to say SOS FBI right as the 10 second is done. Not a second too early, not a second too late! Otherwise they won't get the call.”, Dad warned. No pressure or anything. “Ok Dad, I’ll do that.” I said, feeling numb. “Good, now let's get some sleep.”.

     I woke up to dad prodding me. In those few, blissful seconds of ignorance, I thought I was at home, on my bed. Then the memories of last night came rushing back. I wasn’t on my bed; I was in a cell in the middle of who knows where. But it could be worse. I could not be here with my family, not knowing anything is wrong. I much rather prefer this option. Even though it’s not an option.  “Time for operation slit your wrists”, Dad said. “ Ok. let’s go.”, I said with a flat voice.

     Dad got the metal piece and started cutting. He didn’t show any sign that it was painful. I wrists were bathed in red and I looked away and started screaming.” HELP HELP MY DADS  DYING!! “, I screamed as loud as I could. I heard footsteps racing down the hall and opening the door violently. “What happened?!”, he yelled. “I don’t know! I woke up to find him like this!”, I yelled back. The guard hit the door on his way out to get help and his phone clattered to the ground. In all the commotion, he didn’t notice! Yes here’s my chance! I got his phone, held the lock screen and home button together, and after 10 seconds EXACTLY I said,” SOS FBI”. I threw the phone back towards the door and started tending to Dad. He was slowly losing consciousness. I ripped the shirt I wore yesterday in two and wrapped it around his wrists.  He didn’t cut that deep, it was just a superficial wound. Dad slowly regained consciousness and was strong enough to walk in another 15 minutes. It was weird that nobody else had come by. Just then we heard commotion and the door to our cell was kicked down.

     “Agent M Jay, we’re with the FBI and here to rescue you!” Dad nodded and we got up to follow them when a guard came and blocked the door. “Where do you think you’re going?”, he taunted. That’s all he got out before an agent shot him mercilessly in both legs. The guard went down and we went out. The agents formed a protective circle around us defending us from bullets that were firing all around us. The world seemed go slow down, and I could see the progression of two bullets as they were fired to hit him. Time sped up again and the bullets collided with Dad. He fell and two agents caught him, not missing a beat, and hauled him into a helicopter, putting me in another one. “Is he going to live?”, I asked hesitantly. I hadn’t seen where the bullet hit, so I had no clue. “I don’t know”, he said. “Promise you’ll keep him safe?”, I asked, hoping when I knew I shouldn’t. The agent hesitated and then said,” I promise.”.

 2 weeks later

Meena

It’s been a hectic two weeks since The Day. Therapy, court, the police station, and the hospital have become my second home. Who knew being kidnapped and surviving had us in store for mounds of legal paperwork. We were filing a lawsuit against CPI- who was our home security system provider- because something went wrong with the system, causing us to not be notified of the break in, therefore causing our kidnapping. If we had been notified of the break in, we wouldn’t be filing these lawsuits, and Dad wouldn’t be in a coma. We’re also bringing the STN to justice, one baby step at a time. So far, in two weeks, the FBI and police force have found 2 of their major hideouts, and have arrested everybody involved with those two bases.  That’s a major win for our side! That’s why we’re in the police station so much. And on top of all of this, we go to the hospital every day to visit Dad. After he got shot, he and other wounded agents were airlifted to the nearest hospital while being chased by a few members of the STN. After the FBI agents shot a few bullets in their direction, they ran away screaming obscenities. They reached the hospital and dad was immediately put on life support because he was in a coma, although the agents didn’t know that at the time.  All they knew was that he was shot in 2 places. In his kneecap and shoulder…. He’ll never be able to walk again. Each day we go to the hospital, hoping for a change, any change. But so far our hopes have been dashed each time.

     We all walked into the therapy room. Today was Thursday. And Thursday is the day Ms. Whatsherface tries to “help us cope with the stress and trauma of the kidnapping”.  Every time she says that, I want to slap her. Now don’t get me wrong, I know she’s trying to help. But it infuriates me how she can sit there and pretend to know what’s going on. What’s worse is that Akhil and Aishu like her! We all-we as in Akhil, Aishu, Rohit, and Mom- have to go to the same therapist at different times. So Rohit goes first, then me, and then Mom. Akhil and Aishu don’t need a therapist because one, they’re both less than 4, and two, they don’t remember it at all. They just think that it was a very bad dream. I know this because they asked me if The Day really happened, and I said that it never happened, it was all just a bad dream.

     Ms. Whatsherface actually does a have a real name though, her name is Ms. Molly. Every day Thursday she tries to “understand the situation better” and “work through my feelings”. As you’ve probably guessed, I hate Thursdays. But one good thing came out of therapy. I finally knew that to be courageous, you don’t need your looks or experience. You just have to have the determination to see the impossible through. And in these past few weeks, I’ve realized how courageous I can be, how courageous others can be, and how courage comes in many shapes and sizes.

     Harrah! Therapy is over for this week! I bounded down the hallway, eager to be away from the office. Today we were going to have eat out at an Indian restaurant. Even though Mom could make it at home, we decided to indulge a bit today. I jumped inside the car ready to be gone and feast on Chicken 65. But first we have to make a stop at the hospital.

     We drove to the hospital; a route I knew by heart. We walked in and Mary, the receptionist looked up and smiled. She was with another person so she just waved us in.  We raced up the stairs, including Mom, and dashed down the hallway where my Dad was. Steeling myself for bad news, I opened the door.

     My feet squeaked on the cool hard tiles of the hospital floor. Rohit, Mom, Akhil, and Aishu all shushed me in unison. The air seemed to be electrified, zapping us whenever we moved.  We walked cautiously into Dad’s room. I opened the door and the sight that waited for me had me on the floor, crying and thanking God. It seems like good does always prevail.

Dad

     “BEEP...BEEP…”, something droned endlessly. Everything around me was unfocused and seemed to be bathed in a brilliant white light. In my peripheral vision I could make out a tower of tentacles that were hooked up to something. I couldn’t feel my body...did I still have a body? Where was I? Is this heaven? The light got brighter...and brighter...and brighter still. It was liked standing in front of a star. Suddenly the white burst, and my vision cleared. I was in a hospital room.

     The tower of tentacles was connected to me! I saw them running up and down my arm carrying a clear looking liquid into my veins. That was the liquid that seemed to be keeping me alive. I sat up to examine my room with my head full of questions. Where was my family? Why was I here in the first place? Then I heard footsteps outside.

     The footsteps were hurried, like they were in a rush to get somewhere, or had someone important to see. They got closer and closer to my room until they stopped in front of my door, as if they were hesitant to come any closer. “Come inside, I won’t bite” I thought gently. The feet had come to a decision. They opened the door and stepped inside cautiously. Upon seeing me the person crumbled to the floor and started crying. It was happy crying, thankful crying. It was Meena crying!!!