Secret Ninja Warrior

 

            Victoria ran home as quick as she could the second the school bell rang. She couldn’t wait to see her new turtle, Oliver. She got to her house in record time, dropped off her backpack inside, and ran around to the backyard.

            There was Oliver, near the back of his enclosure. Victoria had wanted a turtle for so long. After begging her parents for months, they finally surprised her last night with Oliver.

            Carefully, Victoria reached down into the cage to pull Oliver out. She startled back when she realized that what she thought was Oliver was actually a rock, carefully painted to look like a turtle. Panicked, Victoria looked around for Oliver. The enclosure wasn’t big, and it took all of two seconds to realize that he wasn’t there.

            “No!” Victoria wailed as she pulled out the painted rock. Who would do this? She looked at the rock and saw that there was a note taped to the bottom.

            Victoria ripped off the note and flipped it open. It read: “If you want your turtle back, come to the old shed on the forest’s edge.”

            Victoria heaved a sigh. Could it have been Ben that did this? He was always teasing her at school, and he had laughed right in her face when she told everyone that she got a new turtle. He could have been the one who had taken Oliver. Folding up the note, she ran inside the house to get a flashlight. That old shed was dark and dusty.

            Fortunately, the shed wasn’t far, and Victoria arrived there a few minutes later. Looking around, she didn’t see any sign that anyone else was there. Resigning herself to the spider infested interior of the shed, Victoria clicked on her flashlight and walked inside. “Hello?” she called out nervously. “Ben, I want my turtle back.”

            Victoria’s flashlight beam shone off the dust motes in the cavernous shed. She heard a noise off to her right. Turning to investigate, she saw a small cage with Oliver inside. “There you are!” she cried in relief. She leaned down to make sure that he was okay, and then she heard a footstep.

            Suddenly, a woman stood next to Victoria. “Are you ready for your daily training?” she asked in a no-nonsense way.

            “Excuse me?” Victoria replied, confused.

            Ignoring Victoria’s confusion, the woman said, “Let’s move out to the middle of the floor.” She walked towards the middle of the large shed that reminded Victoria of an old gymnasium.

            “Umm, who are you?” Victoria asked, unwilling to do anything that this strange woman said.

            “We don’t have time for questions, but if you need something to call me, call me Maven.” She cast a stern look over at Victoria, who hadn’t moved. “Let’s get started now.”

            Victoria took a few hesitant steps toward Maven. “I think you must have me confused with someone else. I’m not training for anything.”

            Maven let out a little laugh and shook her head. “Let me just show you.”

            Faster than Victoria could follow, Maven started doing a series of martial arts moves. She watched, stunned, as Maven came closer and closer. Suddenly, Victoria realized that Maven would end up kicking her if she didn’t do something. She took a small step back, and without even thinking about it, she blocked the kick that was coming her way. Maven continued to whirl around Victoria, and Victoria was shocked to find that she knew what to do to not only protect herself, but to perform counter attacks.

            Victoria’s arms and legs were moving too fast for her brain to follow. Maven moved away, and Victoria looked down at her hands in wonder. “How did I do that?” she whispered.

            Maven was smiling as she said, “You’ve been born with basic ninja abilities.”

            “Come again?” Victoria said, not quite understanding.

            “You’re from a long line of ninja warriors.”

            Victoria stopped herself from laughing out loud, but barely. “I don’t think so. My parents…”

            “Are both ninja warriors,” Maven finished. “They sent me to complete your training to become a master ninja warrior, just like they are.”

            Victoria wasn’t sure if she wanted to laugh, but Maven looked so serious.

            Maven continued, “I expect to see you in this shed every day for training.”

            “For how long?” Victoria asked worriedly.

            “Until you become a master.”

            For the next hour, Maven showed and explained several different martial arts moves to Victoria. Victoria was able to perform all the moves without too much difficulty. She was surprised that everything came so easily to her. At the end of the hour, Maven said, “Okay, that’s it for today, but we’ll keep going tomorrow.” She turned to leave, but stopped and said, “Just remember that you’re part of a secret society now. No one besides your family can know about this.”

            Maven started to walk away, and then she was just gone. Victoria looked all around, but couldn’t see her. Sighing, she went back to Oliver in his cage. Picking up the cage, she let herself out of the shed and headed home.

            Victoria couldn’t believe what had just happened. She knew that she wouldn’t tell anyone about this because who would believe it? She did, however, have some questions for her parents. Now that she knew what they were, she couldn’t wait to talk to them about it.