THE "LIMPING LADY"
NYC - 2,500-Word MicroFiction Short Story Competition
On January 20, 2023, I wrote my second, 2,500-word NYC MicroFiction Competition.
I was given the following criteria to use in my story:
Genre: Spy
Subject: Collateral damage
Character: A rifleman
Word Length: 2,500 maximum
This is what I wrote:
Who would have ever thought that a young woman named Jenna with a prosthetic leg would become the most fearsome, yet famous, female super spy? Perhaps her wooden leg is what made her look scarier?
Jenna was adventurous, capricious, and cantankerous. For example, she once went to school wearing a bracelet made of live snakes! She jumped out of airplanes into enemy-occupied territory and never got caught! How could she get caught when she was a natural at what she did and the Germans were looking for a male spy, not a female? Her code names were Modesty Blaise and Mata Hari. She was the first female spy in history. She was also referred to as Cynthia, Luna, Phoebe, and Diana by the Germans. The secret police considered her the most dangerous of all Allied spies.
Jenna loved hunting, but in 1933, at the age of 27, she tripped and shot herself in the right foot while hunting birds. She lost part of her leg in this hunting accident. It had to be amputated below the knee and replaced with a wooden appendage like that of a pirate. Her recovery was long and painful as she learned to use her pegleg, but this was her second chance at life and Jenna wasn’t going to waste it! The Germans also called her the " Limping Lady”.
With a life change upon her and Jenna's love for hunting, she turned her attention to, and undertook, basic training in military skills and outdoor activities leading to advanced skills training. She specialized in explosives but also underwent extensive weapons training. She learned about every type and make of weapons that she may encounter, including British and American, German and other foreign weapons. She excelled in explosive and weapons skills. Jenna also trained recruits in defensive skills. She worked for the CIA and became a legendary Allied spy for the Americans, the British, and France. No one knew that Jenna was a spy because she wore regular street clothes such as a floor-length dress, or a cocktail dress meant for special occasions. The dress was to her advantage because it covered her pegleg.
World War II erupted, and Jenna chose the AK-47 Automatic Rifle for mass killings and became an exceptional rifleman. Instead of hunting birds, she now had to shoot down the enemy: the Nazis. Not only would she shoot her enemies, but Jenna would make good use of her explosives and she would demolish buildings, homes, schools, and churches that were inhabited by the Nazis. Sadly, like in any war, innocent people, children, and pets were also massacred and left behind as debris. Nazi families, civilians, and their close friends were left mourning their loved ones.
At the beginning of the war and for six years, the sounds of air sirens, shootings, bombings, and the Nazis arresting many civilians were heard throughout Europe. One could smell the burnt buildings and dead bodies strewn throughout the cities. Civilians ran screaming and terror-stricken as they tried to find refuge to protect themselves and their families.
Jenna knew the different locations of the Nazis because she flirted with all the Germans, and she was able to ingeniously extract this important data from them. What can you expect, she is a spy and a good one at that!
Jenna raised her stakes. Her target was Adolf Hitler. She already had a sniper rifle and the skills to use it. Jenna did make several unsuccessful attempts to attack Hitler, but he was too heavily guarded. Since Jenna was unable to get close enough to shoot him, she thought she would befriend one of the Nazis soldiers by flirting with him and getting invited for cocktails with Hitler and his company. This way, Jenna felt that she could either poison Hitler's drinks or inject him with a lethal substance that would kill him instantly. Jenna despised Hitler so much that she was obsessed with these thoughts of murdering him, but she felt her plans to carry this through were weak.
A new set of circumstances opened up for Jenna when she resourcefully seduced one of Hitler's high-ranking officers, and she was invited for food and drinks at Hitler’s home. Hitler’s home was large and beautiful. A huge picture of Der Fuhrer hung in the main entrance hall. Guests remained in the main foyer or on the balcony just off the lobby. Champagne was served by maids in crystal champagne glasses and on a silver platter. The Nazis sure did love their liquor! The maids also brought in appetizers that Jenna considered to lace with lethal poison. Maybe Jenna could just drop poison in all the glasses and on the food that would be served to Hitler and his surrounding officers killing all of them and removing any suspicion of her involvement and that Hitler was the primary target.
This was her chance to get close to Hitler, build his trust in her, and learn more about him. Jenna kept her eyes on him looking for an opening to get even closer to Hitler and talk with him. While meticulously analyzing Hitler, she felt shivers running up and down her spine as she knew hundreds of eyes in the room were looking back at her. If Jenna had her automatic rifle with her, she would open fire and shoot as many soldiers as possible ensuring that she shot Hitler first. However, this course of action would be suicide and Jenna would possibly then be discovered as the most famous spy in the world. Instead, she decided to weave around the chamber to get close enough to her target to place a small drop of poison in all the drinks and appetizers being served at Hitler's and the surrounding tables.
Jenna began to move around the enormous foyer stopping to chat with various soldiers. She spoke German fluently, efficiently, and clearly in all subject areas drawing the attention of all those she spoke with. As she scanned the room and its occupants, Jenna realized that she didn’t have to be right there with Hitler and his comrades to carry out her crucial assignment. She noted that the same maids made their rounds routinely. That is, each table was assigned the same maid to serve the beverages and food, therefore, all Jenna needed to do then was to be a spy on the maids as well as the soldiers and choose those glasses and appetizers to leave just a minuscule drop of toxic poison in the cocktails and unique meals. She had to be precise about when and which platter would be served on Hitler’s table in addition to only some of her enemies closest to him. Jenna made her way to connect with the woman servants, especially those close to Hitler. She was able to determine which female comrades to engage in with some social interaction, but her goal was also to spike the food and drinks with a deadly, silent weapon known as a toxin. In addition to spiking the booze and hors d’oeuvres, Jenna slipped the vial of poison into one of the servants’ apron pockets and the injection needle into the pocket of another. This was a good plan because poison is more popular among women killers than it is among men.
Jenna did not have an escape plan. She couldn’t escape too soon because it would be premature, and she would raise suspicion. When the freshly spiked drinks were given, Hitler and his company raised their glasses to a toast. Jenna did not know what they toasted about, but she very quietly giggled and mumbled, “that will be your last toast, make it a good one.” After a number of the soldiers dropped dead instantaneously, the foyer was locked down. She wanted to stay and see what would happen after introducing the new drinks to her chosen parties.
Shortly after their toast, Jenna was surprised that the guards did not react as she had expected when several of their comrades just dropped to the ground dead, however, they did begin to search everyone for evidence of the culprit responsible for such a dreadful crime. One maid was caught with a small clear-glass poison bottle in her apron pocket. They grab her immediately and took her away struggling and screaming, “that’s not my bottle, that’s not my bottle. I don’t know where it came from!" No one listened to her. The search continued and another maid was discovered with a syringe. She was also carried away kicking and screaming, “I’m innocent, I’m innocent. I’ve been framed!” Again, no one listened to her.
All the lifeless bodies, at least a dozen of them, were dragged out of the foyer and disposed of in mass graves and burnt obscuring the identity of the soldiers.
It was only after every person in the room was searched and cleared to go, Jenna was free to be on her way. She still wondered why there wasn’t more pandemonium, especially since she assumed she just assassinated the Nazi leader. As Jenna exited through the front entrance, she experienced numerous heart palpitations. Was she seeing things, she asked herself. Was this Adolf Hitler walking towards her or was he a duplicate? Jenna was confused. She asked herself several more questions such as, if she didn’t assassinate Hitler, then who substituted for him? Is this why chaos and riots didn’t erupt when Hitler was pronounced dead at Hitler’s private party? Is this why only those invited to the function knew of the unsuccessful attempt made on Hitler’s life? Were the Nazis aware that someone was attempting to kill Hitler and that his celebration was a good setting to execute him?
Hitler stopped Jenna as she was leaving his home to inquire about the disturbance and asked why everyone was leaving so early. Jenna always had a way with men and spoke little and cautiously in answering Hitler’s questions. She managed to get Hitler to explain that the man at the party was a look-a-like because his bodyguards advised him to spend time at the cottage with his family to be better protected. Jenna was disappointed. She felt defeated once again in her attempt to murder Hitler. She found it ironic standing face-to-face in front of Hitler’s home talking with the very man that she tried to destroy.
Hitler was hated by many because he was the one responsible for starting World War II resulting in the deaths of tens of millions of humans as well as for the horrific deaths of millions of innocent Jews during the Holocaust.
When the long, brutal war finally came to an end, Jenna surveyed the devastation that was left behind. Numerous buildings were still burning, families were screaming and sobbing, human beings laid lifeless on the roads, sidewalks, and everywhere, and some were burnt beyond recognition. Jenna observed a woman clutching her husband crying and praying.
Jenna had to swear to the secrecy of any involvement of being the most famous Allied spy for the Americans, British, and France. This was her legacy yet very little was known about her. After the war, Jenna returned to the CIA to continue her work as a spy in foreign countries.
Although Jenna did not participate in the festivities of the end of WW2, millions of people did rejoice with street parties, dancing and singing across the world.
No one spoke about the war because it was too horrendous, and most individuals just wanted to go forward with their new lives. WWII was the biggest, bloodiest, and deadliest war in history that involved at least 30 countries.