Beep!  Beep!  Beep!  Beep!  Ugh.  It’s nice to know my watch is still working.  Bright and early, too.  “I shouldn’t say that”, I told myself,“Georgie gave it to me yesterday morning.  He would be sad.”  Anyway, I ditched my backpack a ways back with my phone still inside.  I turned off the alarm and put my watch back on my right wrist.  Georgie is my chubby little six year old brother, although he insists he is “swix and a have”.  To be clearer, six and a half.  He didn’t  really know what to give me for my birthday, so he grabbed this dark purple watch at the store and told me to buy it.  I couldn’t exactly say no.  I mean, nobody can resist his huge starry puppy dog eyes and quivering lips.  “It’s all I have left of you Georgie”, I stared at the watch,“Wait a minute!  Where is he?  I gotta go find him.  For all I know, he could be anywhere in the world by now!”  I have got to get out of here.

Georgie is the only family I have left.  Our parents died when he was just a baby and I was 12.  I still remember it vividly.  We were on our way home from the park.  It was a simple townhome, but I loved it.  I lived there ever since I was two.  My dad, Dameon, had unlocked the door so we could go in and settle for movie night.  We were about to start when my mom, Janette, said she heard footsteps.  She went upstairs, just to check, and we heard a scream.  My mom rolled down the stairs, unmoving.  Everything went spinning after that.  My dad was telling me to run and never look back.  He said to go to the police and take Georgie with me, to never let go of Georgie.  To never be afraid.  He reminded me of Mom’s words,“There is a reason for everything.  God knows it, so you should too.”  He kissed me on the forehead, gave me one last look, and pushed me out the door.  I did what he said and ran.  By the time the emergency vehicles showed up at the house, everything was in flames.  I knew that none of the three had made it out alive.  None of my relatives came to get me.  There was only one family that wanted a baby boy and a 12 year old girl.  That’s how I met my best friend, Jaimie Jordan.  Georgie, Jaimie and I had the perfect life together.  That is, until the whole mystery plague thing came out of nowhere and destroyed my life, again.

Coming back to my senses, I noticed some things.  For example, someone could probably hear my stomach from a mile away.  I look around and find a milk pail, thinking there might just be some cows around.  Or maybe they went crazy like all the other animals.  There were a couple ’round the corner, so I started milking them.  Last year,  Jaimie and our parents took us to spend a week at her grandparents farm and they taught me how.  It didn’t go so well at the beginning, but I got the hang of it...eventually.  “Ah.  Good times”, I chuckled.  After stealing some eggs from the chickens in the back, I decide to check out the owner’s house.  I took the towels with me, just in case.  The door was unlocked and I stepped right in, no security alarms going off.   It was a nice house.  Almost all the walls were pink, gross, but it seemed real cozy with the leather recliner couches and bean bag chairs.  I went to the kitchen and started up breakfast.  I started frying the eggs on a pan I found in the cabinet, and I rummaged through the pantry.  Surprisingly, I found it stocked with all kinds of delicious food.  “I guess these people lived here not too long ago.”  I checked all the labels and nothing seemed expired.  After that, I had a hearty breakfast.

Cleaning up took a while because I felt really fat at the moment, but what was left was eventually put in the dishwasher or stuffed back into the pantry.  My next order of business was packing.  I didn’t know where I was going, but I needed to find Georgie.  Even if it meant that the plague consumed me before I could get to him.  I’d still die trying.  As if it were a sign and God was trying to help me, the fan blew something that looked like a newspaper towards me.  I picked it up and noticed it was no ordinary newspaper, but a series of confidential papers regarding the plague!  It seemed to be addressed to some kind of scientist.  “So these people have known all along and never bothered to tell us?  I don’t get it.”  As I read on, I come across a section that says,“All persons involved in Operation DO OVER must report to our lab in Washington D.C.  All other persons will be evacuated to Washington D.C. when the time is right.  Let us finish this once and for all.”  Well that’s not suspicious at all.

So it’s settled.  I am traveling to the great capital of the U.S.A.  After my “discovery” I have decided to keep a picture of the owners for reference.  I’m really curious about what is going on and I intend to stop it.  I grab a suitcase from under the owner’s king sized bed and start gathering things I need.  So far, I’ve gotten a pillow and blanket from their large attic, a hairbrush (so I can at least look presentable), and some mints (so people don’t faint when I talk).  I finally get to the last room in the second story and find that it is a girl’s room.  Probably a daughter.  I look for a picture, but I can’t find one.  Judging by the posters though, it looks like she’s my age.  As I venture farther into the room, I notice a small painting on the wall.  In it, is incorporated five letters.  “A-L-I-C-E”, I read out loud,“Huh.  Doesn’t ring a bell.  I’ll just make a mental note of this.”  I ransacked her closet and found that we were the same size.  Better yet, we had the same style!  How can I not know this girl?  I stuffed some clothes into my suitcase and some money that I found in her sock drawer.  Classic!  Just as I turned away, I saw it.  A little head popping out from behind the bed.

Awwwwwww!  It’s a little gray kitten!  “Here kitty!  Come on.  I won’t hurt you.”, I whispered.  It wasn’t shy at all.  As it came towards me, I saw that her collar read “Jingles”.  She purred and insisted that I pet her.  Obviously, I decided to take her with me.  I found a cage and food for her, and even packed some milk.  I figured I might as well should add a ball of yarn too.  Now everything was set.  The hard part would be getting the flight attendants to let me on that plane to Washington D.C.  I checked through the whole house for some sort of transportation.  The airport was pretty close, so I could manage.  I found a pair of car keys on the dresser and checked to see if there was a car.  Indeed there was!  “Man, these people must have been in quite a hurry.  They left everything here.”  I loaded all my things in the back and placed Jingles on the passenger seat.  I started the engine and off I went, feeling a little lousy with the polluted air trying to get in my system, but excited for the journey ahead of me.  By the way, have I told you that I’ve never been to Washington D.C. before?  Oops!

After arriving at the airport and ditching the car, I ran straight in.  They told me to write my name on a tag and attach it to my luggage.  Then they just took it.  As I went through security, they were rushing people trying to get them out of here and onto planes ASAP.  I don’t even think they cared about Jingles at this point.  They just said,“Yeah.  Yeah.  Whatever.  Just keep the little thing with you and don’t let it disturb the other passengers.  Now run along girl.”  They didn’t even ask for a passport.  Whew!  I got to the gate just as they were boarding.  “Finally, I get to rest for like 2 hours.”  But those two hours went by way too fast.  Before I knew it, we had landed and were exiting the aircraft into the really crowded Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.  I bought a Starbucks cotton candy frap because it’s my favorite, and it tasted delicious by the way, and caught a shuttle to car rental.  They were ushering people to random cars and as soon as I got in mine, I drove.  I knew exactly where to go.

Jaimie always told me of her sister Donna.  She also wouldn’t stop babbling about how “extremely supertasticle” Donna’s husband, Kevin, was.  Guess where they live?  Washington D.C. of course!  There is no doubt they went there.  I drive up to their house and surely enough, I see another car parked out front.  I ring the doorbell, and Georgie answers it.  When I see him, nothing else matters.  Do you know that feeling?  That moment when you are reunited with the most important thing or person in your life is when you pretty much squeeze the life out of them.  Ok.  Bad choice of words.  But it eventually becomes so overwhelming that you just sit there and cry.  Knowing Georgie, it was obvious what he was going to do.  He lifted his hands in the air and said,“Why you cwying swis?”  My sobs immediately turned into a series of giggles.  Jamie and her parents came rushing through the door when they heard this.  And then I was bombarded with questions.  I told them everything.  Including my suspicions on Operation DO OVER.

“But why would they keep it a secret?”
“I don’t know.”
“Does anyone else feel like his all plays into the plague incident?”
“What if the Government is in on it?”
We were having a “family discussion”.  Everyone was nodding in agreement to what Kevin said at the end there.  I mean, it all just clicks.  It’s just that we don’t have any evidence.  “So it’s settled”, I said,“We need proof.”
“I say we go to the Potomac River tomorrow.  I heard a group of rebels are planning to overthrow the government.  I didn’t think this would be the reason, but maybe they know something”, Mrs. Jordan said with a hint of protest in her voice,“But for now, lets get some sleep.”  She ended the meeting and everyone went to their rooms.  That night, I slept with Georgie.  It felt good to feel his body press against mine huddling against me.  I hugged him as if I could never let go, so I would never lose him.  And I knew if I did, I wouldn’t survive the pain and the grief.

“Tawa! Tawa! Tawa wakie wakie!”
“Tara, get up!”
Jaimie was struggling to drag me out of bed.  Georgie was sitting on the side table, laughing and enjoying the show.  Jamie decided to go to extremes and pour ice cold water on my face.  That got me wide awake. “Yo!  What the heck!  This isn’t the ALS ice bucket challenge bro!”, I yelled.  I shook like a dog and got water everywhere.  We started laughing our faces off!  This was good.  I really needed this.  It made me feel like everything was back to normal.  Except that there was a plague taking over the world and killing us off, one by one.  We all got ready and had a good long breakfast.  After getting Georgie to finally let us put his shoes on, we jumped into the SUV rental car.  Luckily it was a seven-seater.  As soon as we got to Potomac River, you can guess what we did.  We jumped out of the car.  Sure enough, there was a mob of people standing at the riverbanks, chattering amongst themselves.  A man stood on a crate and whistled to indicate he was going to speak.  “Hello, my friends,” he said,“As you may know, I am Chester and I used to work with the Government.  I have recently discovered that my colleagues had created a master plan on eliminating all life on Earth.  They are corrupt and want to become bigger leaders.  They only think of themselves.  That is why I left them.  They are working with a band of scientists who have recently uncovered a recipe to create more life.  They had released a plague, which only they have an antidote to, to kill us off.  Join me in uncovering their true intentions and we can bring them to justice.  Are you with me!”

Man, that was intense.  This guy was the real deal.  After another family discussion, we decided to go for it.  We were joining this, merry, group of rebels.

“Alright, first things first.  We need to infiltrate the Capitol.  We need someone to be an insider and get into the Capitol.  Hmm.  Who should it be?”, Chester scanned the audience and came to a stop at me.  Why is it always me.  “You will be perfect.  You’re not too young, but not too old.  You have an official look.  And you could say you just need a few days to study them.  Plus, you really want this, don’t you?”  Ok.  How did he figure all that out in 2 minutes?  Creepy much?  Anyway, it all ended with me saying yes and everybody else getting a job too.  It was all about to go down.

I look ridiculous.  I mean who wears a pink blouse with a skirt that comes all the way down to your knees!  Why couldn’t I just wear short-shorts with a t-shirt?  Well, I guess everyone has to make sacrifices when it comes to saving the world.  Chester implanted a tiny camera in my purse.  I’m supposed to meet with the Governor and get the truth out of him.  Oh god, I’m nervous.  Here goes nothing.  I walk into the Capitol Building.

“This is Secretary Louise, how may I help you?”
“Ahem.  I’m here to meet the Governor.  Um, I’m not really sure where to go.  You see, i’m new here an-”
“Name?”
“Oh, um.  My name is Tara.”
She rubbed her temples and stared at me.
“Last name?”
“Willson.  Tara Willson.”
“Yes, I see.  You have an appointment with Mr. Governor at 9:00.  Someone will be with you in a moment.  If you’ll please wait there”, she said with a fake smile.  She pointed to a waiting area with a beige sofa and a variety of magazines scattered on a table in front of it.  I waited for a couple minutes when a lady with brown hair in a bun came over at signalled me to follow her.  She barked directions whenever we took a turn.  “LEFT.  RIGHT.  DOUBLE DOORS.  RIGHT.”, she would say.  Geez!  Is everybody here like this.  I wouldn’t want to grow up to be a harsh old lady.  As we went through the final set of doors, I saw a short stubby man with a slightly bald head and glasses.  He looked so innocent, but I kept a straight face.  “Ah, Margaret.  Always precisely on time.  Thank you.”, he said in a slightly high pitched voice.  “No problem Mr. Governor!  Anything for you”, she said in a sweet voice.  Can you believe it?  SWEET!  She walked out swiftly and closed the door quietly behind her.

“Hello Ms. Willson.  Nice to meet you!”, he shook my hand very enthusiastically,“I hear you are the best in your class.”  So the time went on as if it were a normal job interview.  Soon enough, it came time for me to ask the questions.  This is where it got harder.  I started small, but started pressuring him more and more every time.  When I saw that he was uncomfortable enough, I dived in.  “What do you regret the most?”, I asked.  That’s when he cracked.  All his secrets, the entire plan spilled out of his mouth, as if he could not control the flow of words that kept tumbling out of his mouth.  “Poor Mr. Governor”, I thought.

Meanwhile, Donna and Kevin were distracting Secretary Louise in the front.  They were acting as Georgie’s parents and kept Louise busy, while Georgie waddled away to pull the fire alarm.  That was our escape plan.  Chester was in the control room, taking care of the security camera’s and footage with two technicians.  The rest of the group, including Jaimie and Mr. and Mrs. Jordan, were taking all the other government official’s minds off things.  As soon as the alarm rang, we were evacuated.  I scooped up Georgie on the way out, who was trying so hard not to burst out laughing.  After we all gathered up, we ran for it.  I guess nobody bothered to come after us.  We uploaded the tiny camera’s footage onto a USB and personally delivered it to the President, who then showed it to the second highest Official in the Government.  This happened to be Margaret, who was fairly shocked.

At the end of it all, every person involved in this crime was taken to jail, the scientists released the antidote, Margaret became Governor, and earth was saved from total annihilation.  Donna and Kevin decided to share their big house with us and it started to feel like a real family again.  I even started calling Mr. and Mrs. Jordan Mom and Dad!  Jaimie's eighteenth birthday came up too, and we celebrated it like nothing ever happened two days ago.  The best thing, was that she decided to share it with me because I never got to celebrate my birthday.  Now that’s what real sisters do.  Of course, we were both face planted in cake.  That is the work of Kevin.  Everything was perfect and normal, for now.
THE END