Opening up the Bottle (on Hold)

Chapter One: Normal

“Being normal is so overrated on my opinion. I mean what celebrity would be classified as normal? What great person was or is average? Well, whatever your view on the subject; the truth of the matter is that I would never be normal….. Even if I wanted to. Why, you may ask, well I guess I’ll have to start with the day Ella Louisa Lana Antoine was born (which is me if you weren’t smart enough to get that already)."

"You might have picked up that my initial are the same as my first name. My mother’s idea, she thought it would be cute; and my father thought it was cute that she thought it was cute.  Speaking of my mother, I don’t know her well…. Actually, I should say I don’t know her at all. You see, she died when I was born; but she wasn’t the only thing that died that there. My father’s love died that day as well. Ok, maybe that was too harsh. I’m sure there is some love, not much but it’s there, for me; but for the most part, the love went as well has the word ‘cute’ in my father’s vocabulary. "

"Now, every year on my birthday, what’s supposed to be my favorite day of the year, my dad is reminded of that pain. I hate my birthdays now, because my dad won’t miss a chance to show me that its cause of me my mum is gone.

Come to think of it, how is it my fault. I never really asked to born, but try telling my dad that. I’m not sure how my dad was before my mum died, but I’d bet my life he was happy…. or at least happier than he is now."

"I’ve never had a normal conversation with my father either. I don’t even call him ‘dad’ it’s always ‘father’ or ‘sir’. He’s a war veteran you see, general to be exact. A general with all the right credentials, making him run his house like a military camp. As soon as I could walk, talk and more or less understand what was going on around me, I was put in all the martial arts classes you could think of! Some I bet you’ve never even heard of!"

"During this time, my father has been working for the Canadian intelligence Service (CIS). He thinks I don’t know that he was or is, but one thing that I’ve learned in my 14 years of living with my dad is how to lie and cheat. Anyway when the SAS, CIA, MI6 and CIS decided to put together a ‘Dream team of teenage spies” or DTTS, my father jumped in and enrolled me in the recruiting program. 

I wonder what that says, you know, my father willing to put me in lethal danger. Do you know what he told me before sending me there, or here? ‘Ella, make your country proud.’ No I love you, I’ll miss you, or even that I make HIM proud."

"Oh well, that’s how I ended up here, with you….. unfortunately.” Ella told the DTTS psychiatrist. For the last month or so, Ella had been in the recruiting program for the CIS’s future DTTS. Now she was performing the psyche exam…. Just to make sure she wasn’t crazy.

After this, the director of the CIS would decide who would be sent. Ella wasn’t cocky or anything but she knew that she probably be the one chosen because aside from her skill, her father and the director had been best friends in the army.  The psychiatrist began to say with her face showing amusement, “Miss. Antoine, I… may I call you Ella?”

“Yeah, sure I guess,” replied Ella with no emotion.

“It seems to me that you have-“Started the professional. I won’t bother telling you what she said as it isn’t relevant to the story. What is though is what Ella was thinking about. She just wanted a normal life, but she knew that just as ‘cute’ wasn’t in her father’s vocabulary, ‘normal’ would never be in hers.

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They were all told to line up, all the potential candidates for the CIS’s DTTS. First was a tall, blond and blue eyed boy called Charlie. Next came Amanda, an awkward genius who had murky brown hair and horned rimmed glasses. Ella came after, her black hair with magenta highlights was tied into a ponytail and her mystical green eyes were scanning the room. After her came Artie, a short red head with no other striking feature but his hair.

The director, a man who was fifty-something with premature thick white curls due to stress and suffering, looked at all the kids intently. Then he started to say, “I have seen your progress and training and have made up my mind.” Then he pointed at Ella and finished his statement, “You will be the DTTS representing the CIS.” This didn’t surprise Ella at all. She knew that she would be chosen, every bit as she knew that now, every hope of a normal life was gone for sure…… Forever.