Prosapia

Aaron was running faster than he had ever ran before through the dusty alleyways of Algiers, The dry heat of the spring sun was almost too much to bear but his pace never altered. He felt the breeze of a bullet miss his head by inches as he took the sharp turn into the next alley, launched himself onto the low baring roof of the adjacent building and continued to flee. He turned around and saw that his pursuers had not dropped their pace so instinctively he broke right and leapt across the gap and landed with a crunch on a small balcony where an old couple were enjoying a game of chess. The old women released a terrified yelp as Aaron landed and her husband moved with a speed that to Aaron seemed almost unnatural in a man his age, Aaron ducked through the doorway into the couples apartment as his pursuers fired a hail of bullets at his position cutting the old man down as he moved to cover his wife.  

He awoke from the nightmare with a start and found that his sheets were soaked with sweat it had been a long time since he had a nightmare, it brought back painful memories that he would rather forget. His quarters were cold and devoid of any sentiment it was not permitted for agents to have personal items on base but Aron had stashed a backpack with passports, cash and several burn phones in one of the ceiling panels after his first mission, It was his backup plan in the unlikely event that he had to get out, all he had to do was retrieve the pack and disappear. He thought often of taking off and finding a nice beach on a tropical island where he wouldn't have to worry about the admiral or missions or any of the other crap he hated about this hellhole. Sometimes he wondered why his mother sent him here, was he so repellent that his own mother couldn't stand to be around him? Of course he knew that wasn't the case, she sent him here to protect him after his father betrayed his country and his family by working for Syrian intelligence. Ten years had passed and he still remembered the day his mother told him the truth.

“Aaron” his mother had called to him across the courtyard

“Aaron get in the car now!” she had yelled, he had never heard fear in his mothers voice but there was no mistaking that's what he had heard. He did not need to be told twice, when his mother told him to do something he did it without question. She threw two large duffel bags in the backseat just as Aaron had buckled himself in the front and then she jumped into the drivers seat and drove off at high speed.

“Mama what is going on?” he had asked her as he started to feel the unfamiliar tendrils of fear creep into his mind

“Don't worry everything is going to be fine” she had tried to comfort him but he knew from her tone she was afraid. Five hours later they arrived at a small cottage on the outskirts of Tel Aviv.

“we will be safe here for a while” his mother had said as she was taking the bags from the car.

“Safe from who mother? What is going on?” he pleaded with her

“Aaron sit down and I shall explain everything” he took a seat on the bench in the front garden looking out onto the vineyards

“Oh my son I am so sorry to have got you caught up in this mess” she had proclaimed with tears streaming down her face, he had never seen his mother cry before she was the toughest person he knew seeing her like this filled him with fear.

“if you are to understand then I have to start at the beginning” his mother had said after she regained her composure.

“I am not a translator for the police and your father is not the captain of a fishing boat”

“Mama I don't understand what you are talking about!”

“well hush and let me finish then” she replied

“your father and I both work for Mossad, do you know what that is?” she had asked with a hint of fear in her voice

“i think so, it's like the secret police they fight Hamas”

“exactly, when I was eighteen I started to work for them, soon after I met your father and then we got married and had you. They are coming for me and I have to get you somewhere safe so there is a man coming here to take you somewhere safe” she said

“ but mama why are they after you? You're not Hamas.”

“They want me because you're father has done something terrible and they will use me to get to him, they will use you too if they find you so I have to send you away until I can figure a way out of this mess” she spoke quickly with tears flowing freely down her face, Aaron had never seen his mother cry and seeing it now he felt his own tears begin to flow. “i can come and help you, I don't want to leave you alone.” his words were broken and his tears were streaming down his cheeks.

“Listen to me child, you must leave I need to know you are safe and when I have found a way to fix the mess your father has made I will come for you but for now you must go do you understand?”

“yes mama” he replied as a black jeep pulled into the driveway.

                       Aaron was brought back to the present by the sound of his name over the intercom  

“ Aaron please report to the admirals office” He quickly washed his face and threw on a black t-shirt and stonewashed jeans and made his way to the admirals office.

Author's Note

this is an extract from work that is almost complete.... i would like opinions not corrections from grammar nazis because i will fix the grammar during editing thanks

Reviews

[Michael G.]

I liked the action. The start reminded me of one of the "Bourne" movies. But where the action was satisfying, I wanted more detail. Do we know how old Aaron is? Give me more details... even if it feels like you are adding "fluff," at least it won't have a feel of being a little too quick and choppy.
Good enough write to hold my attention. I guess I'm just asking for "more."

[Barbara Walker]

Jeez, you've taken all the fun away if I can't be the grammar nazis! Ummm, aside from the grammar and punctuation errors, which distracted me, it is an intriguing story. You've written it in a way to make me want to read more.