[31_days] August 1: Birth
Title: Birth
Category: Axis Powers Hetalia / Hetalia World Series
Characters/Pairings: generic nation
Genre/Rating/Warnings: general/G/none
Summary/Excerpt: "What are you? You are a nation."
A/N: Written for 31_days. Theme was healed by wind and sun. Trying out a new POV. :D
Birth
You awake lying face up on the ground. Your first breath is as painful as any newborn's. You want to cry but there are too many questions running through your head.
Why are you here, why are you born, why are you alive, how will you live, what is the best form for government for you, shall you expand your territory, who will own you, what right do they have to do so, do they know who you are?
You are an abstract concept. You are the collective, shared belief, imagination of a group of people that they belong somewhere, that they can call themselves something.
You are their heart personified. Your body is the land, your wounds are their wars. Their feelings, their hardships and happiness are your own. You live days as long as they do, but you neither age nor die.
They are your children yet they are your mother. Your people is what keeps you breathing.
You sit up and feel the crunch of earth beneath your hands and feet. You wonder what it's like to exist in this world for beings like you. You feel alone. You want the company of your kind but you also want to live with your own people.
You are shaped like a human. Doesn't that mean you are human too? You feel the heat of the sun, the brush of wind. You work in the fields and eat when you're hungry. You laugh and cry and talk with friends. Is that not of your own will?
The wars you fight tell you it's not. Your will is the will of your leader, the will of the masses, the will of those who write down history. Your only freedom is to shed bitter tears for those you never wanted to hurt and make amends because you have time. You can only aspire to be human.
What are you?
You are free to love.
It is a burden. You find out early in life (existence?) that humans do not live as long as you do. Their hardships are no different from yours, their tragedies are harsher but where do they find the strength to stand up, forgive and smile so easily? You are baffled, frustrated and angry at them. Why can't humans cut the crap and be honest with themselves? Why do they have to tell you everything is going to be fine with such a pained face, when they know they're going to die? You are far older than them in centuries yet still feel like a child when they stroke your hair and hear them say
"Stand up, child. Your people need you."
You learn to love.
You too learn to forgive. You heal at a slower pace because your time allows you to cry. Your time allows you to mourn and be human as much as humans can't within their short lifespans. The difference between you and them is that you'll hopefully learn from the mistakes they didn't live long enough to do so. You will never forget.
At some point, you'll come to envy an existence with an end. At some point, you'll declared you've seen it all. At some point you'll feel old and terribly tired.
Then you find out the world is getting smaller. Everything is running faster and people around the world easily connect. Suddenly there are new things, bad things, good things, but things that pique your interest. You mildly wonder if there really is such a thing as 'history repeats itself' and realize there is little of your past to judge that.
You have hope for the future. After all, what everyone wants is peace.
You realize there's much more to live for, for yourself and your country.
You smile, jump, sing, eat, dance just like everyone else. You are not alone anymore. You want to live. What are you?
You are a nation.
END
Category: Axis Powers Hetalia / Hetalia World Series
Characters/Pairings: generic nation
Genre/Rating/Warnings: general/G/none
Summary/Excerpt: "What are you? You are a nation."
A/N: Written for 31_days. Theme was healed by wind and sun. Trying out a new POV. :D
Birth
You awake lying face up on the ground. Your first breath is as painful as any newborn's. You want to cry but there are too many questions running through your head.
Why are you here, why are you born, why are you alive, how will you live, what is the best form for government for you, shall you expand your territory, who will own you, what right do they have to do so, do they know who you are?
You are an abstract concept. You are the collective, shared belief, imagination of a group of people that they belong somewhere, that they can call themselves something.
You are their heart personified. Your body is the land, your wounds are their wars. Their feelings, their hardships and happiness are your own. You live days as long as they do, but you neither age nor die.
They are your children yet they are your mother. Your people is what keeps you breathing.
You sit up and feel the crunch of earth beneath your hands and feet. You wonder what it's like to exist in this world for beings like you. You feel alone. You want the company of your kind but you also want to live with your own people.
You are shaped like a human. Doesn't that mean you are human too? You feel the heat of the sun, the brush of wind. You work in the fields and eat when you're hungry. You laugh and cry and talk with friends. Is that not of your own will?
The wars you fight tell you it's not. Your will is the will of your leader, the will of the masses, the will of those who write down history. Your only freedom is to shed bitter tears for those you never wanted to hurt and make amends because you have time. You can only aspire to be human.
What are you?
You are free to love.
It is a burden. You find out early in life (existence?) that humans do not live as long as you do. Their hardships are no different from yours, their tragedies are harsher but where do they find the strength to stand up, forgive and smile so easily? You are baffled, frustrated and angry at them. Why can't humans cut the crap and be honest with themselves? Why do they have to tell you everything is going to be fine with such a pained face, when they know they're going to die? You are far older than them in centuries yet still feel like a child when they stroke your hair and hear them say
"Stand up, child. Your people need you."
You learn to love.
You too learn to forgive. You heal at a slower pace because your time allows you to cry. Your time allows you to mourn and be human as much as humans can't within their short lifespans. The difference between you and them is that you'll hopefully learn from the mistakes they didn't live long enough to do so. You will never forget.
At some point, you'll come to envy an existence with an end. At some point, you'll declared you've seen it all. At some point you'll feel old and terribly tired.
Then you find out the world is getting smaller. Everything is running faster and people around the world easily connect. Suddenly there are new things, bad things, good things, but things that pique your interest. You mildly wonder if there really is such a thing as 'history repeats itself' and realize there is little of your past to judge that.
You have hope for the future. After all, what everyone wants is peace.
You realize there's much more to live for, for yourself and your country.
You smile, jump, sing, eat, dance just like everyone else. You are not alone anymore. You want to live. What are you?
You are a nation.
END