Thunder.
Sealand hated thunder and of course it had to be a huge thunderstorm coming this night. This particular night, when he had told his parents that he was going to be independent and not come crawling up to Sweden or Finland when he got anxious.
It was past bed time and Sealand could hear the storm getting closer and closer as he pressed himself against the wall from his bed. He hugged his teddy bear against his chest and just waited for the first clash of thunder to strike.
It didn't take long until he heard the rain start to smatter against his window and he took a few deep breaths when he heard the first few dull rumbles outside. He let out a couple of small whimpers and hugged the bear harder.
Sealand turned on the lamp on the bed stand in hopes it would comfort him, but it only made his fear a little bit smaller. He didn't even know why he was afraid of thunderstorms, since he knew he was safe inside the house and that it wasn't very likely to be hit by a lightning, he had been told by Finland. It must be the noise, Sealand thought as he crawled up in his heap of stuffed animals. That loud rumble sounded just like an earthquake.
After maybe forty minutes, the storm was completely over them. Sealand had buried his face in the bear's soft fur, but it didn't seem to comfort him any good. He didn't want to go to his parents either, since they were probably asleep already and didn't hear the thunder. They were good at that. Not hearing things Sealand could hear.
The storm got worse and worse as time passed and Sealand had started to sob. He wanted to go to his parent's room, but he also didn't want to. He had just told them he wouldn't depend on them that much and if he rushed in to their room now, that would mean he depended on them.
But on the other hand, it was better to depend on them than to depend on stupid brother England. Sealand would rather sleep in his parent's room every night than tell England that he was nervous.
The storm was still right above the house after another half an hour, so Sealand couldn't take it anymore. He was crying rivers by now and ran in to his parent's room screaming when he had heard a very loud rumble outside.
"Dad!" Sealand cried. "Dad, I'm scared." He had already jumped up in the bed and in under the blanket. "Dad, wake up!" He usually never called Sweden 'dad', so it was two surprised parents who woke up when the boy screamed at them.
"Peter, what is it?" Finland asked with a yawn. He hadn't noticed the thunderstorm at all, but jumped a little him too, when he heard another rumble outside.
"Nh. Y'scared?" Sweden's deep voice asked the boy. "'t's just thunder.. 't can't reach y'here."
Sealand shook his head and buried his face in Sweden's pajamas. "I'm scared! Make it go away." He pleaded.
Finland got up and walked over to the window. "It's a terrible weather outside. No wonder you got scared, Peter." He said as he saw a big lightning in front of him. "Su, you don't suppose we got any earplugs?"
Sweden looked thoughtful for a moment before he nodded. "'n my workroom. 'n a box 'n the bookshelf." He simply said.
Finland walked out to go search for the earplugs, while Sweden put his comforting arms around the boy.
"'t's alright." Sweden mumbled. "Calm down."
Sealand slowly nodded. He wanted earplugs badly now and hoped that Finland could find them, otherwise he didn't know how he would manage to sleep. The storm didn't sound like it would calm down for a long time, so those earplugs would really be his rescue. He didn't even care now that he was crying like a baby in Sweden's arms.
Finland came back a few minutes later with a joyful smile on his face, showing the earplugs to the other two. "Look what I found, Peter." He said and sat down on the bed. "Put these in and you won't hear a thing."
Sealand turned around slowly, took the earplugs in his hands and put them in. Just like Finland had said, he didn't hear anything. He didn't even hear what Finland said to Sweden.
He knew though, that when he woke up tomorrow, he would deny that he had been crying and tell them that he only went in here because he thought that his parents were scared and then accidently fallen asleep.