Edward Snowden

Soft rains fall on licks of flame. The house gives a final sigh and gives into the ground. Several minutes pass. A pale hand emerged from the black charred ashes.

“Dad, are they gone yet?” comes a soft voice from underground. With a heave, a smooth metal panel pushes open and a man jumps out. He reaches for the hand of a pretty copper haired woman, who steps out after him. Two children follow cautiously. The family stands and peers around at the barren wasteland left of their town.

“What are we going to do, Edward?” the woman sighs. The man ignores her and examines the ground. With a sudden leap, he sprints over to the back side of the house.

“Their footprints are here. Let’s just hope our disguise worked,” he says. He pulls out a small device from his pocket and pushes a silver button. Near where they came out, a sleek black aircraft rolls out on a ramp.

An electronic voice says politely, “Welcome! You have successfully activated your emergency vehicle.”

“Well, here we go,” Edward says. “We’ve got a long trek ahead of us.” The woman slips her hand into his and they walk toward the plane.

“I won’t be needing this anymore,” the girl mutters as she throws a plastic ID card onto the ground and kicks it away. It reads Joelle McClellen. With a final glance at her home, she runs to catch up with her brother. Once the whole family is on the plane, a door mechanically closes and they fly into the air, blowing a gust of ash behind them. The girl feels a pang as she looks at the destruction out her window. Her eyes feel heavy. She leans against the comfy seat and falls into darkness.

The girl wakes up and rubs the sleep from her eyes. A telescreen talks in the background about the devastating effects of the nuclear bomb in California. She thinks about how it will be tough for the government to talk their way out of that one.

“Where are we? What time is it?”

“It’s about two in the morning, Joelle,” her mother replies. “We’re at the military base in Iceland, just until your father figures out where we’re going next.” It all comes flooding back, along with a pounding headache.

“Ugh. I’m going to find a medical station, Mom. I’ll be back,” the girl says. Without a backward glance, she jumps off the bed and slams the door. She roams the halls until she sees a familiar red cross on a machine.

“Symptoms?” the machine inquires cheerfully as she walks up.

“Uh, headache. And a stomach ache,” Joelle answers. A tiny pink tablet pops out. Joelle grabs it and tries to force it down her dry throat. Immediately she feels better.

Her sudden change in mood inspires her to explore. A large black door looms ahead, but there is no knob. Only a fingerprint scanner resides by the entrance.

With a shrug, Joelle goes to put her finger to it, but the giant door slides open with a sudden whoosh. She jumps back.

“Oh, hi Dad,” she says guiltily. “I was just looking for you.” Her father turns to talk to her, as a short gruff man with a moustache comes out the door.

“With all due respect, Miss Snowden, your father and I have urgent matters to discuss concerning your family’s welfare.” the man snaps. “Now, if you’d excuse us. Follow me, Mr. Snowden.”

Joelle’s father turns to give her an apologetic look but follows close behind the other man. Joelle sighs, but discreetly sticks her foot in the door before it closes. As soon as the men turn the corner, she slips inside.

Some papers reside on the table of the large empty room. Joelle flips through them and reads. Edward Snowden, Fraud in U.S! screams one ancient yellowed paper. Joelle remembered learning about them in school. Newspapers! That’s what they were called. She did not understand the logistics of it, but many bad people were after her father for having important stuff on computers or something. She was not completely sure, but her parents thought it was best if she did not know in case anyone tried to get information from her.

Another more recent newspaper announced the discovering of her family in Russia. That one brought back bad memories. She had to leave all of her friends and get a new name again, all because there was a spy from the U.S government working with the people who were originally hiding them. That time, they had to move to Japan.

After they were discovered there, they became the McClellans and moved to California. That was supposed to be because no one would think to look for them there, but judging from recent events, that did not work so well. At least they wouldn’t be looking anymore. Joelle’s nuclear proof house was built as a disguise for the bomb shelter underneath. When they got alerted that the bomb was coming, they put some slow-burning material silhouettes designed to look like them out in the backyard and hunkered down in the shelter.

She was so angry at her father for not letting others know about the nuclear bomb. They could have survived! Her friends could have lived. But they could not let anyone know how they knew. So her friends perished in the nuclear bomb, just like everyone else. Her heart gave a pang as she thought about her best friends, Xendalia, Jade, and Apollo. They did not know her background, of course. No one did, except apparently whomever nuked them.

Joelle’s father had set up a camera on the house, designed to look like the many plates of nuclear-proof siding. A telescreen underground showed them the damage. Their house was the only thing left standing for miles.

Just as her family had suspected, a U.S helicopter appeared with some armed men and women in radiation-proof bodysuits. They had come straight towards the house. A few went around back, while one male went onto the porch. The charred house only showed their silhouettes, so it appeared that they were killed in the bomb.

The people outside seemed satisfied, but the man on the porch wanted in. Joelle had been sure that the house would not let him in, as it had voice recognition technology, but the man pulled out a small device with a recording of her father’s voice. Good Morning! The voice was definitely her father’s. Joelle had shuddered to think how they got ahold of that.

The house had let the man in, with a happy “Hello, Mr. McClellan!” He stomped around, peering into the kitchen, then the family room. When he had gone into Leo, Joelle’s little brother’s, nursery, Joelle had felt disgust at the charred and soiled remains of her town tracked into that glorious little playroom.

The man had paused on top of the carpeting that hid the hatch to the shelter, and Joelle’s heart had stopped. She thought for sure that they were done for! But the man had continued his search and finally left.

The whir of the helicopter signaled their exit. Many hours later, the house had caught on fire. Joelle had barely cared. When the patter of rain began and the fire stopped, they exited the shelter and left to where they were now.

With a sudden swoosh, the door opens and jolts Joelle out of her daydream.

“There you are, Joelle! Your mother was worried sick about you. Come on, let’s go!” her father says. She follows him into the long winding hallway, where he stops at a door with no characteristics that distinguish it from the others.

“Okay, honey, this is how it’s going to go. We need to become a different family again. We are moving to Costa Rica. Can you do it?” her father asks hopefully.

“Yeah, Dad. It’s not like I have a choice,” Joelle answers.

“That’s my girl! Go get ‘em, tiger!” her dad exclaims. That was one thing that never changed about her dad wherever they were: his enthusiasm.

Joelle steps into the room and is overwhelmed. It is an appearance room, similar to the one she went to in Japan. Every time she became a new person, she changed everything about how she looked. Joelle had enjoyed the fun of picking out her look, though.

This time, Joelle selects a deep violet hue with curls for her hair. For her eyes, she picks a bright aqua color injection and long dark lashes. Joelle ponders the face tattoos, a common fad for kids her age, but instead decides on an eyebrow piercing. Her best friend Jade had one, and Joelle had loved the look. She winces through the pain when the chrome ring is drilled into her skin as a tribute to Jade. To complete her all around appearance change, Joelle has to get facial surgery. She hates this part, but it is necessary so the government cannot use facial recognition. Joelle cannot even recognize herself when she is done, so hopefully the government has the same reaction. She steps into the hall where her family is waiting. They all look very different as well. Joelle ruffles Leo’s new green mohawk as she laughs.

“You let him get a mohawk?’’ she playfully scolds her parents.

“I figured I would let him choose this time,” her dad shrugs. “Alright, Scivias. Are you ready?”

“Scivias?” Leo asks with a confused look.

“Yep. That’s our new name. Leo, you are North Scivia. Joelle, you’re now Cressida. Mom is Raelyn and I’m Maxx. Let’s go team!” Joelle smiles as her family pulls in. Even though she has been through a lot, her family is there for her. Her dad hands them all warm puffy jackets and some duffel bags.

“Ready? Let’s go!” Joelle’s dad pushes open a door and a gust of cold air blows in. They all walk outside, jackets on, to a different aircraft. Joelle breathes in the cold air and prepares herself for what is ahead. Her family hops onto the waiting aircraft and it takes off from the ground. The endless night sky stretches around them, and the cool crisp air gives Joelle a feeling of exhilaration. Wherever she goes, Joelle knows she is fortunate to have her family beside her.