The Curious Case of Alice Harris

In the dark streets of Palra lies a woman, breathless and cold. No one knows she is there yet and I'm not sure when they will find her. What I do know is that she is a young woman no older than 25 and she wasn't in a good time in her life.

Alice was born in Palra but loved to play in the outskirts. The small dirt roads would lead her somewhere new and different every day. But life stricken with hardship and tragedy she found herself always on the outskirts of a revolution, though she never knew its cause.

Innocent and unaware of the world they lived in, her rough Sunday school filled with tales of morality hidden behind heavily guarded fences, do not know what it has become. Closing her eyes tight just helps to blur out their reality, holding onto one happy memory that shreds away to nothing.

Alice can't forget her good favor as she walks this dark Palra street unable to scream even though she locked herself in a whole new type of prison cell.

The year is the end of the 20th Century and Palra is in the midst of a transit strike. Friday night, thousands of people scramble to finish their last minute Christmas shopping and only a few cars are on the road, making people tired and jittery.

I suddenly see a girl lying still on the pavement, no traffic nearby on the long-abandoned road. I expect it's someone who has passed out and just wants to get to the hospital but there is something different about her. Her dark hair glistens from how wet it is from not being able to get up for 5 hours having been mistaken for just taking another drunk puff, the worst killer of them all.

I drive up to stop, recalling that the road is the border of some one-time city that has been widely abandoned, a vanishing landscape of residual sadness. Across the street and down a hundred yards or so an eerie place where three trees mark the height of an old warehouse and around it, sprawl of vacant houses waiting to be torn down.

The empty street is a ten-lane interstate running through noxious toxic ponds off to one side and farms for miles on the other. Did I imagine someone lying only a dozen feet away from me on the pavement? I start moving again, blink hard and look back at the lone figure, it's now gone.

Officer arrived and began to evaluate the situation. It was clear that the victim had been assaulted, possibly repeatedly. Blood was splattered across the pavement and the streetlights shone down on it, highlighting a path around the woman that led right up to my car. It was at that moment that I realized that I was the only witness to this horrific crime. I walked back to the scene of the crime and started my investigation.

Hours later, the detectives had their final report - and the case was solved. The victim was my neighbor - someone I had seen every day, walking her dog, sitting on her porch, and sharing a laugh with. While I relive the moments of that night, I know that I didn't imagine the body lying just a dozen feet away from me on the pavement. I did what I needed to do to help ensure that the perpetrator was brought to justice.

I absolutely dedicated myself to ensuring that the perpetrator was brought to justice this past year. Throughout the year, I tirelessly investigated the perpetrator, gathering as much information as possible to help catch them. I did whatever I needed to in order to get this information, even if it meant going above and beyond the call of duty. I was always confident in my investigation methods, as I knew that I was doing everything I could to help make things right. I am thankful to the people who helped me along the way, and I am proud to have worked so hard in capturing the perpetrator.

Alice's explorations changed her perspective on life. She developed a deep appreciation for the world around her, and she learned to see everything in a more holistic way. She also learned to be more independent, and she became less reliant on her family. Alice's adventures also taught her valuable life lessons, such as the importance of living life to the fullest and never giving up on your dreams.

As Alice began her adventures, she did not know what to expect. She was not scared because she was confident in herself, but was amazed at all that she was seeing and experiencing. She quickly discovered her passion in life – she loved exploring and learning about the world around her. This led her to make strong friendships with people she met along the way, some of which would last a lifetime.

Closing her eyes tight just helps to blur out their reality, holding onto one happy memory that shreds away to nothing. It's like she is trying to block out the pain of what's happening by focusing on something else entirely-anything but the hurt and humiliation that comes with being publicly shamed online. She knows it won't make it go away, but at least for a moment she can pretend everything is OK.

You see, Alice is on her way to get on a boat to travel to Guthram all the way from Palra. Along the way, Alice is sure to encounter a variety of interesting and exciting things. She will learn new things and gain insights into her own cultures. This trip will be a valuable experience for her, and she is looking forward to it.

But not everyone wants to go with her! The people at the town hall don't like what they are hearing about the new treaty between Guthram and Palra, and have made their feelings known loud and clear, but how do you stop a girl who has no fear? It seems impossible, but Alice has no choice in the matter; it would be foolish indeed to let her go alone on this journey that could change everything for the world forever!

Alice is very excited to go on this journey, but I know there will be some unexpected bumps along the road as we both venture out into uncharted territory. Can Alice survive what lies ahead? Will she find her way back? And if she does, what will happen when she gets there? Does she really want to go back? Things were so bad at home and mother never paid any attention to me or my siblings. I hope they're okay, but I must make this journey for my country and my family. If not, who knows what will happen to them.

I know that the war that has been ravaging our country and all of our sister countries can't carry on forever and if there is anything I can do to stop it I will do whatever it takes. Palra and Guthram have been at war for too long and have finally accepted women to fight. I was the first one to sign up to serve my country. I hope that I can figure out the ways of the military and make every one say "That's the woman who saved our country!"

Guthram is a great and beautiful country with the most gorgeous cities in all the world but Palra, the capital city, is a city filled with pain and sorrow because the people are dying from hunger and thirst due to the lack of water and food as well as the bad government policies which cause the natural disasters such as droughts and earthquakes to occur constantly here in Palra, so I decided to join the army and help my country but first I needed to get into this training camp where I would be trained by the best military soldiers and receive the best training to become an expert in warfare and how to defeat our enemies.

I joined the Phantom Division, the division which primarily focuses on stealth and retrieval. They are considered elite and one of the most effective divisions in the Army so they have the best equipment for combat and weapons that can take down any enemy, not just your average ones, but super-powered ones too! After a few weeks of intense training I was deemed ready for duty and assigned to work with a small group of elite soldiers and we were given a mission to retrieve something from a location called "The Cage".

These were my instructions:

The Cage, located in the middle of nowhere, you will need to cross over three bridges, each guarded by the same soldier types in order to reach it. This is not possible in all cases where there are no more than one or two of these soldiers.

As soon as you reach the Cage you have to get inside, find the item that they want us to bring back and then get out without being detected by any guards in between your escape route and the exit point. Once you enter the cage there is an opening on the ceiling which allows you to go straight up to the top floor of the prison.

On the top floor of the prison in the very last room on the left there will be one small and one medium sized packet of papers. You will want to take both of these packets and deliver them to a man named [redacted]. He lives at [redacted] in Guthram. After you have delivered the packets, contact your general and return to base.

Well I did that and everything was perfectly fine for about 48 hours. After I got back to base there was a letter on my bed and it read, " Dear Alice, In regards to your last mission with the Phantom Division, you have broken your contract with The Unfazed. I can not express my disappointment with our greatest leader. You will desperately regret the decisions you have made over the last few years. I am very glad our new squad was finally able to track you down after all these years Alice. You have outdone yourself this time and will definitely pay for your actions. Yours sincerely, Leader 212 Unfazed."

I'm not too sure how to react or if I should even tell anyone about this letter. I know I should at least tell my commanding officer and express that I require 24/7 security and that I be recruited to a new secret location. But what do I say when he asks me why? "I had sex with a stranger in the middle of the night and told him my secrets?" I think there would be an investigation on who gave me permission to do such things in the first place.

There is no good reason for me to disclose my story to anyone unless they are directly involved in a criminal case or something that requires their testimony, as I have been through already the legal system and the outcome has already been decided, so I cannot change anything by disclosing it again (or could, but I wouldn't get any benefit from it). The only person who might want to know is my command, just in case they need to verify the accuracy of my statement in future, which would be a normal practice in order to avoid any mistakes, but not necessarily to blackmail me.

The heat of the moment took over and he asked me what I was doing in Guthram and I told him everything, not knowing who he actually was. The man I slept with and told all my secrets to was Alex White, a little known espionage worker for the Guthram government. Alex has the most kills in the entire army history and he chose me to give his love to. I am at a big conflict internally.

Do I want to be in a relationship with Alex or do I want to go back to my real life and forget about this world? I am still trying to figure out whether I should tell him that I know he is Alex but I can't believe he is so secretive about it because he never tells anyone anything if it isn't important to them, which I can understand. I feel like there is more to the story but I don't know how much I should say because I am afraid of how Alex will react and if telling him will change the way he feels about me.

I'm writing this in an attempt to help myself understand why Alex left without saying anything to me, why I haven't heard from him since we parted ways (almost two months ago) and why he has never contacted me or attempted to contact me at any point during our time together despite us having spent every night together except one night where he couldn't get into town due to a storm that knocked out power and Internet service.

I was completely blindsided by it all but have only recently realized the depth of my feelings for him and how much I cared about him even before I ever knew him well, and although he seemed to genuinely care about me too at first, after just a couple months of knowing each other, he began distancing himself from me and spending more time with friends who were interested in him romantically than in me.

His sudden departure made no sense to me at first because there had been absolutely nothing between us leading up to the breakup aside from a few nights where he wouldn't leave my apartment after he stayed over due to the fact that his friends were still around and he felt like they would judge him if he left so early.

"I don't believe that," said Alex, "You were always open with me about your feelings for me."

"Yes," I replied, "That's because you are my friend, but now I need to tell someone else what happened so that they will know too, and then we can both be free of this burden."

"But you can't just go around telling people, especially after the way you found out," argued Alex.

Alex and I spent a few great months together and after a while I realized that he was too daft to understand that I had feelings for him. We went our separate ways and didn't have any contact with each other until the war ended. The letter I got from the leader of The Unfazed worried me more and more after I had left the army. I had no one to protect me any more and I was all alone in a new unknown place called Kelna. Kelna was about 500 km away from Pulra and Guthram. The people were fantastic and so very caring for me as a single woman.

They showed me how to drive, shopped for me, cooked and cleaned my house for free. I met a man there named Hugh Morton. Hugh was extremely great to me. He found out that his father, who was also a soldier like me, had been killed during the attack on the city by a small group of renegades led by Mitchell Davidson. Mitchell Davidson was the new leader of the espionage that Alex led. I am not sure if Alex is alive or not. I am about to journey to Port Elksto. I am not sure when I will make it there and I hope the people there are just as sweet and caring as the people here.

The first thing I noticed about Port Elksto was the fact that it wasn't very big compared to many other towns in the country that we have visited so far this year but it was still large enough for people to live comfortably in the area and have enough trade with the surrounding lands to survive and prosper in the areas surrounding the town itself without having to travel outside of the town to buy things they need such as food and supplies or sell their wares to merchants traveling from one part of the country to another to make money.

As I walked around the town, I quickly noticed all of the different businesses. I was surprised that there were so many different businesses in a small town like Port Elksto. I was also impressed by the fact that most of the businesses were still open even though it was late in the afternoon. I thought that it was a great testament to the town's economy. I also loved the fact that the businesses were all unique in their own way. I was fascinated by the fact that there was a business that sold ice cream in the middle of the town.

By this time 3 years had passed since the letter and Alex left me. I was living a new life under a new name and had amazing friends. I finally felt like I belonged after many years of going place to place. I feel like I can settle down here and make a family. I never thought that I'd be in a place in my life where I felt secure and happy. I had seen so much in the war and the images of children dying were permanently burned into my brain.

A few days ago, I walked to the local library to see if I could find any information about adoption in Port Elksto and stumbled across an article on a woman who was adopted as a baby from Purla by Port Elksto parents decades before my birth (it seems incredible but it is true). She lived with them for 18 years and when she was around 20 years old, she found out that her biological mother had died – a few weeks later she learned that her adoptive father had passed away, too – and she then found out that she was adopted.

After I had found this out I had decided to do a little research of my own and see if I could find any orphans of the war I had fought so hard in to make peace. I had found that there were some orphans near Port Elksto. I decided to contact the orphanage and asked if they had any older children or teenagers who remembered the war. I know it isn't the type of thing people would want to remember but I needed to know if anyone knew anything about Alex and his family.

I actually had found a distant cousin of Alex and he was just turning 18 at the time of contact. I wrote him a letter explaining everything and my situation. I honestly didn't expect a response back but a few weeks later a letter arrived in my kitchen, not in my mailbox, my kitchen. As soon as I saw it I knew something was wrong. I hesitantly opened it and it read as follows, " Hello Alice, My name is Austin and I am Alex's cousin. It is very reassuring that he is a good man. I do not know much about him as we are not very close. All I know about him is that he worked for covert espionage. I think the name of the group is The Unfazed. I'm not sure if you had heard about them but the headquarters is located in Port Elksto where you are right now. The Unfazed are dangerous people and know no limits when it comes to punishment for treason. Anyway if you have any more questions please write back to me any time. Yours, Austin."

I immediately contacted my former superiors and requested an urgent meeting. They kindly and graciously came to my house and had a whole meeting with me. They asked me why I decided to reach out and contact Austin. I told them that I have a spot in my heart for Alex and that I needed to know if he was alive and doing well. They understood and suggested that I stay where I am for now but have undercover workers monitoring me 24/7. I agreed half-heartedly. I didn't want to cause any more trouble for my captains but they insisted. A few days later I had a knock on my door. It was Alex with 2 other people I didn't know.