Well, I'm alive!
Yeah…sorry about the really, really long wait but I can explain. I got sick and then schoolwork had to catch up and then novel work and then Hanukah and then thanksgiving which happened on the same way so it was really thanksgiviccah or hannusgiving if you prefer I've heard both used and-GYAH!
Point being I'm back now! But it may be a little hard to update for a week or so, so for now here's a relatively short story and I'll be back as soon as my stressful little author life can allow.
...
1958:
Most guardians would never even think of giving the eight-year-old they had custody over a weapon of any kind. Most would have a heart attack if they found out their ward was shooting a gun or swinging a knife. America, however, wasn't most guardians. He not only had no problem with his brother using guns or rifles or any of the twenty or thirty other weapons the boy had, he often helped purchase the weapons for the boy (though at the moment France was the one who gave him most of his weapons, and a lot of times, the boy made and built his own weapons.)
Israel was really fascinated with weapons and had a thing about always wanting or needing the best weapons. America had no idea where or when Israel had learned to shoot or build a gun but he didn't question it.
But as much as Israel loved his guns, the boy really liked using a knife and boy was he good with a blade. The Israeli combined his krav maga skills with his natural agility and quickness and he was practically a ninja with a blade. It was unfortunate, then, that the only knife the boy owned was a small Swiss-army knife that he hid in his Teddy bear. The knife was sharp but it was too small for Israel to use in battle unless he was right next to his enemy or he could hold it to his enemies' throat. Israel often complained that his Swiss-army knife was a 'baby blade' and expressed his wish for a longer, nicer knife he could duel with and use in battle.
So when America went to town one day to get his brother a present for his eighth birthday he kept that in mind and went to all the weapon shops in order to find a suitable dagger for the boy.
He still could hardly believe Israel was eight and that the boy was now living by himself in his own home. America felt upset knowing that his baby brother wasn't baby anymore, but he had to put up with the fact that Israel wasn't the 51st state of the union, he was an independent entity and all America could do was to help the boy stay strong.
And what better way to show brotherly love then with a shiny new knife? he thought with a grin.
Finally a knife caught his eye. It was small enough to fit in the boy's palm but long enough to duel with. It shone in the light of the shop, the silver blade practically glowing. America grinned and his grin widened when he saw a sign that said 'engrave.'
"Hey," said America to the shop owner, "can I get something engraved on the knife?"
...
"Hey, Iiiiiizzzzy~!" said America brightly, knocking on the door. His guard, Roy Levy, answered the door.
"Shalom, Mr. America," said the Israeli soldier with a friendly smile.
"Hey, Roy," said America with a grin. The soldier invited the American in and lead him to the living room where Israel sat cleaning his guns.
"Akhi!" cried the boy happily; tossing his Uzi aside and hopping up to hug his brother. America laughed and ruffled the boy's hair, his eyes flashed over to Israel's extensive gun collection for a brief moment, some of the guns must have been bigger then the child, how the boy lifted half those rifles was anyone's guess.
Roy went back to guarding the front door as Israel and America sat down to talk.
"Got'cha something, Izzy," said America and Israel's eyes glinted eagerly.
"A present?" he said, grinning from ear to ear. America nodded and handed him a small box.
"Toda~! Toda~! Toda~!" said the boy before he had even opened it. He quickly tore off the wrapper and gasped, his blue eyes widened with wonder as he slowly pulled the blade out by its hilt.
"Wow," he gasped, running his finger along the blade gently enough so that he would not be cut. He then noticed that the blade was engraved. On one side of the blade it was engraved with two golden Stars-of-David that were on either side of the golden engraving that read 'Israel.' on the other side of the blade, also in gold engraving, was the word 'Hagana,' Hebrew for 'defense.'
"Wow," he couldn't help but say again. He tore his gaze away from the knife to look at his brother, who looked extremely pleased with the boy's reaction to his gift.
"Happy Birthday!" he cried. Israel laughed then put aside the blade for just one moment to hug his brother.
"Its perfect, Akhi, I love it," cried the boy, holding up his new knife with reverence. Then he grinned aggressively and swung the knife around a bit.
"I can't wait to see the baddies' faces when they have to duel me with this!" said the boy, cutting the air and imagining himself in battle. America laughed as he thought of the same thing. The Arabs were going to have one heck of a bad day the next time they decided to fight Israel.
...
TBC in the next story. We're going to be getting back to the Arab League, we haven't seen them since the first story!
Anywho, Happy Hanukah to all my Jewish readers, hope you all didn't get a stomachache on thanksgiving, hope you all didn't get trampled on Black Friday and everyone review and wish me luck! Thanks for reading!