Everybody's waiting
Everybody's watching
Even when you're sleeping
Keep your ey-eyes open
A tricky thing
As yesterday we were just children
Playing soldiers
Just pretending

"Come on, Matthew!" Alfred yelled playfully to his younger brother. Matthew smiled at Alfred. He loved playing with Alfred. They were both such energetic kids. Today, they were playing their favorite game.

"It's General Matthew!" Matthew corrected, finally catching up to Alfred. Alfred rolled his eyes.

"Whatever. Now, since we are soldiers, we have to fight for the best army around!" Matthew gave him a quizzical look.

"That way we can be the best soldiers?" he asked genuinely confused.

"Yeah! So we have to fight for Britain!"

At the sound of his country's name, Arthur walked out of the house and leaned against the doorframe, watching the two little countries play. He thought these times were so peaceful, and enjoyed it much. The frog was normally up in Canadian territory, so it was even better.

Dreaming dreams

With happy endings
in backyards,

Winning battles with

Our wooden swords

The two smaller nations picked up the wooden swords that Arthur crafted for them. Alfred's eyes were as bright as the sky that day. He was filled with hopes and dreams of becoming his own, separate country, but he couldn't tell Arthur that. Something bad might happen.

Matthew climbed up a tall oak tree, flailing his sword around like a distress signal. Alfred laughed with determination as he started to climb up the same tree. He poked Matthew's side with the sword. He pretended that he was really stabbed, and fell out of the tree on his butt.

Arthur laughed at the two. It was one of his most precious memories, and one of his best laughs. It was full of happiness and content. If things were to stay like that forever, eternal joy would be true.

But now we've stepped into a cruel world
Where everybody stands to keep score

"All I want is my freedom!" Alfred stated as he faced Arthur. Arthur held his musket up in rage. Alfred couldn't leave him. He was forbidden to.

Everybody's waiting for you to breakdown
Everybody's watching to see the fallout
Even when you're sleeping, sleeping

"I wont allow it!" Arthur yelled with blistering fury, running right to Alfred. Alfred blocked the gun that Arthur was about to hit him with, by using his own gun. That's when England broke down in tears.

"I can't do it!" he sobbed, tears streaming down his face like a sorrowful waterfall.

All of this time, he had never paid attention to Alfred. Him growing up…the larger he got, the more intelligence he gained. His freedom was here. There was nothing more Arthur could do about it. He just hadn't been paying attention.

Alfred bent over, and started to rub Arthur's back in a consoling way.

"Be careful, Iggy," Alfred whispered, using his old nickname. "Life is tough. You have to make rash decisions. Just keep your eyes open."