Me: :D I WILL DO THIS. YES! YES!
California: YES!YES! :D
America: WOO-HOO!
Me: THEN LET'S GET THIS PAR-TAY STARTED! AND DON'T FORGET TO READ THE BOTTOM AUTHOR'S NOTE, I WANT YOU GUYS TO KNOW!
California: Sadly, Ali-kun does NOT own Hetalia. If so, I would've appeared in it already! -.-
California looked at the little metal, hardly bigger than her big toe, in her hand. It was not much, but it was gold. Pure, true, gold. She stared in awe, then a large grin stretched across her face.
"Ha! Wait til' those 'real' states hear about this!"
But she could wait. Wait until there were some more, to make sure it was not just one small strip. Until then... California flipped her long, yet dirty from all the panning golden-brown hair over her shoulder, and waded back into the American River. Later, she could check out some more hills, which she heard had some gold, too. The small territory hoped that she really did have gold veins in her, and the flecks of shiny metal embedded in the river's banks nearly promised that.
~~CaliforniaisawesomeCaliforni aisawesome~~
The mining and panning were a success. She was covered in mud, dirt, and soaked to the skin, but it was worth it. In her two small, tin buckets were heaps of gold dust and pebbles. California ran her fingers through the precious metal, and wondered how she should tell the states about it. Maybe she could become a state because of this, too.
"Now, I wonder how I should spend this all..."
/\/New York's POV\/\
New York yawned. He just could not find a meeting to the state meetings, especially since America was not the strictest nation around. Heck, he was the one starting all this chaos during the meetings! All the states and territories were here, except for California. Weird... She usually liked to burst in with the latest news on her territory. Most of the time, they were just small updates, not too interesting. Perhaps today, she could not find anything to say! New York snorted. It was not like she was even a state, so not many things went on in her. Oregon, above her, attracted most of the settlers, for he had some pretty fertile and nice lands.
/\/POV CUT-OFF\/\
"Alright, kids, so is everyone here? I'm pretty sure, so-" America began, but was cut off by Oregon.
"Dad, Cali's not here yet!" He said, making all eyes turn to him. Thinking about it, he was right. The meeting was missing her usual outburst(s), and it felt kind of weird.
Connecticut shrugged. "She's probably on her way here right now with some lame news."
As if on cue, there was a shout. "GUYS! GUYS! SOMETHING AWESOME HAPPENED IN MY PLACE!" Some states and territories rolled their eyes. California ran in, but had some... accessories that most of the people there did not expect. She wore her usual outfit, alright, but in addition to that, gold bracelets and a gold necklace were casually placed on her like they were wooden beads, and not precious metal that could have been worth hundreds.
America choked on his burger, which was a surprise to both him and the surrounding states. "California... is that gold on you?!"
California beamed. "Yup~ Solid gold! In fact, that's my news! Gold's been discovered in me!"
All the other people in the room exchanged glances. Gold, discovered? It seemed too good to be true, but how else did California get it? She was not exactly rich.
"Well.." America began, unsure of what to say. "Meeting adjourned! There!"
Nobody protested, and filed out of the room, with California skipping out in the lead.
Oregon looked out on the hill. Tents were propped up everywhere, and men were prospecting for gold as far as the eye could see. He eyed his pick and pan, and decided on mining first. The river looked very cold and unwelcome. Finding an open space, he set up his own tent. The territory had not packed much, since he only wanted to find out if the gold story was true or not. Once he was done setting his temporary shelter up, Oregon found a rather nice, empty space to start mining. He began to shovel up dirt, then cut away rock. After several minutes, he began to give up.
"Knew it was a fraud," Oregon grumbled. He swung his pick at the ground in frustration, and to his shock and delight, when he rose it to eye level, on it was some yellow dust. His eyes widened, and he began mining again. Surrounding him as he dug was pebbles of gold, and gold dust. It took about 20 minutes to get it all out, but it was worth it.
"One thousand.. no, thousand an' a half... Two thousand... Four thousand... Sixteen thousand!" Sixteen thousand dollars, just like that. The territory grinned. Better get all his good stuff back at home. He would be staying for some time.
America stared at the letters in his hand. Most of his states who went to check out California's story had made thousands and thousands worth of dollars in gold, and Oregon was coming close to half a million. In only a few weeks. Hastily, he fumbled around his desk, looking for his pen and some paper. The other countries just had to hear about this. Why, America might get millions of immigrants rushing to get in! The only thing he needed was a nice, big sample. California surely could let him borrow some...
/\/ENGLAND'S POV\/\
England looked at his watch. America, that bloody git, better arrive soon. Although America would not be starting (England was starting the meeting, since it was at his house), America had informed everyone beforehand that he had something huge to say, and would not tell them until the meeting. Everyone was slightly curious about what he wanted to say to them, although most of them believed it to just be something foolish like usual.
"Well, let's begin-"
"HOLD ON! GUYS! GUYS! GOLD IN CALIFORNIA! GOLDDDD!" America pratically screamed, slamming open the door. In his left hand was a medium-sized box, tightly sealed shut. He held it as if it contained something precious.
/\/POV CUT-OFF\/\
France raised his eyebrow. "Gold? Isn't that going a bit too far this time, Amerique?"
America violently shook his head. "No, really! Look! Look!" He gingerly held out the box, unlocked it with a key, and presented it to the other countries. "Look, but don't touch. If even a pinch's lost, California's gonna kill me."
All the other nations crowded around, and gaped at the bright yellow inside. Indeed, packed inside the box from top to bottom, were gold pebbles and dust. America reluctantly let other countries hold the box, and most of them gaped at how heavy it was.
England stared at the box once it was in his hand, shook his hand, and wiped some sweat from his brow. "You... you really weren't kidding, huh?"
America pouted. "You thought I was lying? Anyways, this is real gold! Fresh from California!"
All the other nations glared at each other, each one saying a silent message. Back off, the gold is mine.
California smiled and looked at all the immigrants in her newly-turned state. She had not felt this good since... well, she had never felt this great! Thousands of foreigners had immigrated to her state, thanks to the Gold Rush. Even when it was over, her economy and population had boomed, and she would not be just a small, boring territory anymore. She was California, the 31st state of the United States of America, and the Golden State.
Me:T^T It's beautiful...
California: What? The story?
Me: The fact that it's complete...
California: Oh. Nice that you don't need to worry about updating, huh?
Me: *Wipes away tears* Yeah. And readers, I'm not sure if this is historically correct, so yeah. And review! About reviewing... PLEASE do not think, "Oh, this story's done, so I have no more use to it. I don't need to convince the authoress about updating, so I'm just going to not review. It wastes my time, anyways." I mean, c'mon. I, the writer, spent time on this story, and I really like it. Not reviewing just breaks my heart...
California: Aww... :/ C'MON, READERS, REVIEW!
Me: TELL ME IF Y'ALL WANT MORE STATE STORIES!
