The YSA

THE YSA

I am dressed all in black sneaking around a brick building, making my way as quietly as possible. The enemy is almost upon us. He is following my tracks closely, watching my every move. He laughs at the fact that a 12-year-old has even attempted to foil his amazing plan. I am just getting a call from my master when…..

“Wake up, sweetie. Don’t want to be late for school.”

I groan. My life in Dreamworld is much more exciting than my life in reality. I roll off my bed, only to find the floor is the only one to catch me. I have had that same dream over and over, but every time, it has a different ending. I am still laying on the hardwood floor when my phone rings. I don’t recognize the number, but I answer it anyway.

“Hello?” I say groggily.

“Hello. Is this Riley?”

“Yes, who are you?”

“My name is Ben Watson. I am part of a top secret spy network called the YSA. As I have noticed your incredible smarts and way with tech, you are our next official recruit of the YSA, meaning Youth Spy Association.

“ Wait, are you telling me that I could be a spy?”

“Yes.”

“Are you a prank caller? If so I will track you down and slap you.”

“No, this is completely, utterly real.”

“When can I have my first mission?”

“That’s the one thing. I am going to give you your first mission right now.”

“What? Don’t I need formal training?

“Remember all the spy dreams you’ve had over the past couple months? Those were a new tech we’re trying out. All of those were real-life experiences set in a dream world to give you the experience of being a spy.”

“Ok. So what’s my first mission?”

“So, the tech at YSA is extremely powerful. In fact, our latest invention, 67489-BX, is able to see up to three days in the future. We have looked two days into the future to February 17, 2098. We have discovered that the ozone layer is slowly degrading because of the pollution. However, it is not disappearing just because people are polluting it, someone is deliberately shooting pollution into the ozone layer. Your job is to figure out exactly who’s polluting it and stop them before it’s too late.”

“Will I be going on this mission alone?”

“No, you will be going with four other advanced members of the YSA. Their names are Eli Wilmer, Jackie Dee, Ryan Beckett, and Shaynie Fitzgerald. They have had experience since they were five years old. They will be able to help you with this mission.”

“When do I begin this mission?”

“A helicopter will fly to your house in approximately 5 minutes. It will take you to YSA’s headquarters in L.A. The YSA officials will blow smoke into your house. The smoke will make your parents think that nothing happened. In their mind, no time will pass.”

A loud sound of a motor interrupts the conversation. I head out the door to find a giant black helicopter with the letters YSA written across it. I climb in to find a seat in the front for the pilot and 5 seats in the back, each one with a name on them. I sit in the one that has a sticker with Riley written in bold letters. The pilot takes his cap off. He has wavy, blonde hair and blue eyes.

“The name’s Carson. Welcome to the YSA,” he says, shaking my hand.

He sits back in the front of the plane and we take off.

After about 45 minutes, we arrive in Los Angeles. We land in a dark alley. Carson climbs out and pushes a button behind a large trash can. A trap door opens up, revealing a tall woman dressed in black.

“We have a new recruit,” he says.

“Come in.” the tall woman says in a raspy voice.

Carson turns around and beckons me. I climb out of the plane and walk into the building. Inside, there is a series of crazy machinery. I’d never seen anything like it. Carson leads me to a big room with a sign above it saying: MACHINERY.





“This is where the 67489-BX lives. He walks me in. I put my eyes up to the two glass holes and Carson turns the dial to two days. A meteor the size of Pluto is about to crash into the earth. It is going at about the speed of light and looks like the impact is going to hit earth hard. The lenses zoom in on Earth. I see children and adults running around, screaming bloody murder. It speeds up to a scientist’s lab. Scientists are grabbing all of their greatest inventions and experiments and taking off. Farm animals are running into fences, creating a giant stampede. The asteroid is flying into the earth, and it bursts into flames.

I take my eyes off of the lenses, trying to get the awful sight out of my mind.

“Let’s go see your master,” Carson says.

He leads me down a long hall into a door that has like, 20 locks on it. He knocks.

“Hello? Riley is here to see you, sir.”

All the locks click and the door swings open, revealing a man with dark hair and a smile as white as snow.

He stretches out one long, gnarly hand. I shake it.

“Welcome to the official YSA office.”

“Children!” he says in a husky voice.

Five children run out of the door in the back of the office, all dressed in black.

“ I am sending you on your mission NOW. Time is running out before the world ends in a blur of flames and smoke.”

“Gerald!” the man calls.

Another person, this one dressed all in white, comes over with a bundle of keys. He unlocks a small wooden door and directs us to all climb in.

Inside, there is a series of video cameras and videos. The GPS locates the person. He turns around and there is a flash of his face. The curly blonde hair, the blue eyes. Carson.