He stood there, in the water, like he did so many times before. He simply stood there, in some sort of trance, watching, listening, thinking. Something was wrong, something was coming, he could feel it. He always loved the sea, most others thought it was his enemy, and it was, but it was also a comrade that would never disappoint him. As he learnt a long time ago, he watched the sea, and tried to figure out what it was trying to tell him.
"Een storm…, een storm komt…". ("A storm…, a storm is coming…")
A voice, no, not a voice, but a whisper, the sound of waves, the North Sea's own unique sound. A warning.
He knew what he had to do, his people were overconfident, their high dykes protecting them, and he needed to get them to understand the seriousness of the situation before it was too late.
... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...
Here he was again, standing in the water. But this time he wasn't standing in the sea. This was land, his country. He was hurting, he could barely stand, but he still stood there to check the damage. It was awful, as far as he could look there was water, and if he looked better, he could see bodies floating silently. He listened, and could hear the faint voice of the sea
"De waarschuwing…, te laat…, spijt…".("The warning…, too late…, regret…".) "Het is in orde, het is niet jouw fout",(It's alright, it isn't your fault".) he whispered back. "Het is de fout van de mensen, ik had ze gewaarschuwd, maar niemand wilde naar me luisteren. Iedereen lachte me uit, ze zeiden dat ik niet moest overdrijven, en gewoon moest vertrouwen op de dijken. En kijk nu wat er is gebeurd, de dijken zijn gebroken, en duizenden mensen zijn verdronken. Zoveel verdriet, zoveel pijn…" ("It's the fault of the people, I warned them, but nobody wanted to listen to me. Everyone lauged at me, they said I shouldn't exaggerate, and just had to rely on the dykes. And now look what happened, the dykes are broken, and thousands of people have drowned. So much sorrow, so much pain…".)
And everything went black.
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The next time he woke up, it was still the same day, at least, that's what he thought. He was still hurting, but he began walking, he couldn't leave his people, even if they brought the disaster upon themselves. The water was starting to decline, and more and more damage could be seen. He wasn't surprised, there should be a lot of damage to make him faint.
He heard a children's voice, and looked right. A few meters away, there were two young children, a boy and a girl, around 6 years old. The boy was trying to comfort the girl, who was crying for her mother. "Het komt wel goed zusje, we vinden de weg naar huis wel. We vinden papa en mama wel…", ("It's going to be alright little sister, we will find the way home. We will find mommy and daddy…",) but he didn't sound very convinced himself.
"Hallo, zijn jullie de weg kwijt?", ("Hello, are you lost?",) he asked, and the children looked up, frightened. "Het is in orde, ik ga jullie helpen",(It's alright, I'm going to help you",) he said, and he offered them both a hand. Shyly they took them, and together, they walked, the children going to find their family, and Netherlands going to heal his country.