The morning after his birthday, Alaska awoke with a plan.
If his papa couldn't come to see him -- and America couldn't send him to Russia -- why couldn't he meet with Russia in secret? He thought it over during breakfast and the plan just seemed better and better. The Communists couldn't keep him if they never knew he was there.
The biggest problem, of course, was that there was no way he could just sneak off to the Soviet Union without his dad finding out. Even a little kid like Hawaii knew that Russia lived far away and it would take many hours just to get to him, much less to get back. Alaska thought this part over while watching television with his sister. He knew without a doubt that America would never say yes to his plan, but then, didn't his dad always say it was better to ask forgiveness than ask permission?
Over the rest of the day, Alaska thought out every detail. He would take the balloon -- there was plenty of room for him to ride inside, and he could program it to carry him to Moscow. The Commies would never see him coming in the balloon, and after he met Russia he could get back inside and take it home. He could fly away at night while America was asleep, leaving a letter behind explaining everything so his dad didn't worry. No matter how he looked at it, Alaska couldn't think of a flaw in his plan.
"Scoot over," Hawaii whined dramatically, pushing at her brother. "You're blocking the TV!"
"You sit too close to it," Alaska warned her ominously. "It'll make you go blind."
Hawaii rolled her eyes and then flopped down on her belly in front of the TV, placing a pad of paper and a fistful of crayons before her. Bored with cartoons, Alaska looked through the crumpled papers she'd already colored. Hawaii had drawn some cartoon characters -- another page was covered in crudely-drawn horses, or maybe they were puppies -- and then a magnificent family portrait of her holding hands with both America and Japan. Alaska knew it was them because Hawaii had drawn herself wearing her favorite flower-print dress. America was colored entirely in bright red, but he was the tallest and had a big smile. Japan wore one of his long dresses and was colored purple.
There was no Alaska in the picture.
Alaska carefully placed the drawing back in the pile of Hawaii's other drawings. His sister didn't notice; she was already hard at work on a picture of an elephant with wings. He quietly stood up and retreated to his room.
There Alaska found a small knapsack that he took with him when he and his dad went on hikes. He emptied it out and stuffed in a clean shirt and a compass. Then he went to the kitchen and made a couple of sandwiches, and added those to the knapsack, too.
"Alaska!" called his dad's voice from downstairs. "Come down for lunch!"
"Okay," he replied, sticking his head out of his bedroom door. "I'll be right there!" Alaska stashed the knapsack under the bed and then ran down to join his father and sister.
At the table, over a plate piled high with hamburgers, America asked his children, "You'll be back at school tomorrow. Feeling good about it?"
I'll be in Russia tomorrow, thought Alaska, but he chewed thoughtfully and swallowed before saying, "Yeah, really good."
Your characterization and descriptions of all of the characters are spot on! Especially Hawaii and Alaska, since they're OCs. I can't wait to see how Alaska flies away, haha. Love this story!
I really hope that America is wrong about Russia. I want to see a tired, sad but still loving (yet confused?) Russia being a good papa to little Alaska. I can't wait for the trip.
I'm not sure who had to worst childhood...the original 13/England's kids or this little guy...after all America hated England for a while, fought with him in an actual war, and only became friends during /war/ but Alaska has never seen his dad so...these kids are so messed up...
Your Alaska is such a well-written child. You tug at my heartstrings, author anon, especially with that last detail about Hawaii not drawing him in. Poor Alaska, he feels so left out! More and more I think America shouldn't scold him over what's gonna happen, because it's everything around him that pushes him to it; It's less a capricious "I wanna meet my other dad!" and more a "I want a family of my own". Bawwwww ;_;
America is such a cool dad, but picturing him answering those kind of questions made me lol. Even though his answer, and Alaska's heart clenching, made me sad again. Man, what a hard awakening! I wonder what America's feelings for his kids' dads are? He seems pretty sure he doesn't love Japan, and comfortable with the knowledge, but Russia is clearly a subject that makes him uncomfortable. I really wonder at the circumstances of Alaska's conception, now, but also Hawaii's; both were not so far ago, after all.
Alaska waited until he was sure his dad and Hawaii were both safely asleep, and then he put his cunning plan into action.
First, to buy himself as much time as possible, he needed to make sure America slept in the next morning. He accomplished this by tip-toeing into America's room and unplugging the alarm clock. America was almost as heavy a sleeper as Uncle Canada, and it'd probably be nearly noon before he woke up on his own. Alaska placed a letter explaining the situation on the pillow next to America's head. He didn't want his dad to freak out or anything when he woke up and found him gone.
Alaska then carried his bear and knapsack into the garage and stowed them safely inside the ballon. Now came the hard part: getting the balloon out of the garage and getting it airborn.
Alaska, like all of America's children, had inherited some of his parent's superhuman strength, but even so he couldn't lift and carry a balloon as big as this. Instead, he first opened the garage door, then got behind the balloon and pushed it out onto the driveway. This took the better part of half an hour and left him sweaty and exhausted, but now there was room to inflate the balloon and an open sky to fly it in. He changed into a clean sweater and coat, put his mittens in his pocket, and climbed inside the balloon. The control panel was simple enough; Alaska typed in 'Moscow, Soviet Union', then flipped the switches marked 'Engage'.
He sat back and held his breath expectantly. For a few minutes all Alaska heard was the whir-whir of the engines cutting on, and then a sudden jerk as the balloon lifted into the air. Alaska yelped a little as the balloon scraped against the branches of a tree, but moments later they were too high for trees to be a nuisance. He peered out the tiny porthole and watched as his house got smaller and smaller and finally faded into the inky dark and the glare of electric lights. The balloon floated along, following a highway for a time and then went aloft over the ccean, and all Alaska could see was the perfect darkness of the Atlantic at midnight.
For the first hour or so, Alaska was too excited to sleep, but finally tiredness caught up to him. He made a little pallet with his coat and curled up, Ivan-bear beside him. As he dozed off, Alaska smiled and thought, I wish I had some way to let my papa know I'm coming...
If his papa couldn't come to see him -- and America couldn't send him to Russia -- why couldn't he meet with Russia in secret? He thought it over during breakfast and the plan just seemed better and better. The Communists couldn't keep him if they never knew he was there.
The biggest problem, of course, was that there was no way he could just sneak off to the Soviet Union without his dad finding out. Even a little kid like Hawaii knew that Russia lived far away and it would take many hours just to get to him, much less to get back. Alaska thought this part over while watching television with his sister. He knew without a doubt that America would never say yes to his plan, but then, didn't his dad always say it was better to ask forgiveness than ask permission?
Over the rest of the day, Alaska thought out every detail. He would take the balloon -- there was plenty of room for him to ride inside, and he could program it to carry him to Moscow. The Commies would never see him coming in the balloon, and after he met Russia he could get back inside and take it home. He could fly away at night while America was asleep, leaving a letter behind explaining everything so his dad didn't worry. No matter how he looked at it, Alaska couldn't think of a flaw in his plan.
"Scoot over," Hawaii whined dramatically, pushing at her brother. "You're blocking the TV!"
"You sit too close to it," Alaska warned her ominously. "It'll make you go blind."
Hawaii rolled her eyes and then flopped down on her belly in front of the TV, placing a pad of paper and a fistful of crayons before her. Bored with cartoons, Alaska looked through the crumpled papers she'd already colored. Hawaii had drawn some cartoon characters -- another page was covered in crudely-drawn horses, or maybe they were puppies -- and then a magnificent family portrait of her holding hands with both America and Japan. Alaska knew it was them because Hawaii had drawn herself wearing her favorite flower-print dress. America was colored entirely in bright red, but he was the tallest and had a big smile. Japan wore one of his long dresses and was colored purple.
There was no Alaska in the picture.
Alaska carefully placed the drawing back in the pile of Hawaii's other drawings. His sister didn't notice; she was already hard at work on a picture of an elephant with wings. He quietly stood up and retreated to his room.
There Alaska found a small knapsack that he took with him when he and his dad went on hikes. He emptied it out and stuffed in a clean shirt and a compass. Then he went to the kitchen and made a couple of sandwiches, and added those to the knapsack, too.
"Alaska!" called his dad's voice from downstairs. "Come down for lunch!"
"Okay," he replied, sticking his head out of his bedroom door. "I'll be right there!" Alaska stashed the knapsack under the bed and then ran down to join his father and sister.
At the table, over a plate piled high with hamburgers, America asked his children, "You'll be back at school tomorrow. Feeling good about it?"
I'll be in Russia tomorrow, thought Alaska, but he chewed thoughtfully and swallowed before saying, "Yeah, really good."
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"But you do need love to have a baby? Right?"
Geez, Alaska really knows how to ask the tough questions, doesn't he?
There was no Alaska in the picture.
This line really made me want to hug him! I feel so bad for him, America and Russia. :(
I love this story so far writer anon! I can't wait for the next part! :)
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I'm not sure who had to worst childhood...the original 13/England's kids or this little guy...after all America hated England for a while, fought with him in an actual war, and only became friends during /war/ but Alaska has never seen his dad so...these kids are so messed up...
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America is such a cool dad, but picturing him answering those kind of questions made me lol. Even though his answer, and Alaska's heart clenching, made me sad again. Man, what a hard awakening! I wonder what America's feelings for his kids' dads are? He seems pretty sure he doesn't love Japan, and comfortable with the knowledge, but Russia is clearly a subject that makes him uncomfortable. I really wonder at the circumstances of Alaska's conception, now, but also Hawaii's; both were not so far ago, after all.
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First, to buy himself as much time as possible, he needed to make sure America slept in the next morning. He accomplished this by tip-toeing into America's room and unplugging the alarm clock. America was almost as heavy a sleeper as Uncle Canada, and it'd probably be nearly noon before he woke up on his own. Alaska placed a letter explaining the situation on the pillow next to America's head. He didn't want his dad to freak out or anything when he woke up and found him gone.
Alaska then carried his bear and knapsack into the garage and stowed them safely inside the ballon. Now came the hard part: getting the balloon out of the garage and getting it airborn.
Alaska, like all of America's children, had inherited some of his parent's superhuman strength, but even so he couldn't lift and carry a balloon as big as this. Instead, he first opened the garage door, then got behind the balloon and pushed it out onto the driveway. This took the better part of half an hour and left him sweaty and exhausted, but now there was room to inflate the balloon and an open sky to fly it in. He changed into a clean sweater and coat, put his mittens in his pocket, and climbed inside the balloon. The control panel was simple enough; Alaska typed in 'Moscow, Soviet Union', then flipped the switches marked 'Engage'.
He sat back and held his breath expectantly. For a few minutes all Alaska heard was the whir-whir of the engines cutting on, and then a sudden jerk as the balloon lifted into the air. Alaska yelped a little as the balloon scraped against the branches of a tree, but moments later they were too high for trees to be a nuisance. He peered out the tiny porthole and watched as his house got smaller and smaller and finally faded into the inky dark and the glare of electric lights. The balloon floated along, following a highway for a time and then went aloft over the ccean, and all Alaska could see was the perfect darkness of the Atlantic at midnight.
For the first hour or so, Alaska was too excited to sleep, but finally tiredness caught up to him. He made a little pallet with his coat and curled up, Ivan-bear beside him. As he dozed off, Alaska smiled and thought, I wish I had some way to let my papa know I'm coming...
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