Watersnoodramp
-31 January 1953-
I can feel it…
I keep on staring at the night sky. I always get fascinated by the innumerable sparkling stars up there. They remind me of my rough years on the sea. The years I searched for new land, new countries to become part of my empire. No matter how lonely I got, they always were there for me. Always there, showing me the way. But tonight it's not the stars which get my attention. No, today it's the moon. She's full tonight, shining her stolen light on my face. I always thought the moon was special. She got so many scars on her. She did it all to protect earth, to protect us. She's a tough lady. Those meteors can't beat her, but her scars will never go away. But tonight, she feels different. It's like she's luring me, whispering sweet things to get me closer to her. Of course I can't get closer to her. I'm a country, I'm part of earth, but still… I can't get my eyes of her.
I take a big haul of my pipe and slowly blow the smoke out. The smoke goes higher, gets closer to her, but then vanishes into the cold air.
"What's it with you tonight?" I ask her.
Of course I get no answer of her, as expected. I take a new haul. What is it what keeps bothering me so much? I never felt this way before. It's like… there's some strong tension around me, making it hard for me to breathe. But who am I kidding? It's a beautiful night, nothing to worry about. I sigh while the smoke passes my lips. I give the moon one more look.
"Really, what's going on in your mind? I know you're planning on something. You can tell me," I say.
No reaction. Suddenly I feel how someone is pulling on my arm. I turn around and look in the face of a little girl. Her blond hair and blue eyes look like they are shining in the moonlight.
"Sir Netherlands. We should go inside. Daddy says it's going to rain," she says.
She has a bit of a worried look on her face which makes her somehow look cute. I come a bit closer to her and pet her on her head.
"It's okay little one. I think I will stay outside for tonight," I say.
She shakes my hand of her head and gets her cheeky little smile on her face.
"I told you, my name is Annemiek, not 'little one'," she says.
I get a little smile on my face.
"I'll try to remember that."
Her smile vanishes and takes place for her worried expression again.
"So you're not coming inside?" she asks.
"No, not tonight. You should go inside now. Bedtime has already passed," I say, hoping my words will comfort her a bit.
"Oh, okay. Good night sir Netherlands," she says with sad looking eyes.
"Good night little-" I smile by seeing how she gives me a warning look. "Good night Annemiek."
She gives me a little nod and runs back to her home. Her mother quickly gets her inside and gives me a friendly sign before closing the door. As a country you always directly feel a bond with your own people, but somehow the bond always feel stronger between me and 'my' children. I know I don't really seem as the type but I actually like children. They are always so innocent and full of energy. They are the future, my future.
I look up at the sky. Annemiek her dad was right. Dark ominous clouds are slowly coming closer. I can feel how they're covering my land in complete darkness. I shiver when a cold wind tries to blow me away. The clouds almost reach me. I can already feel the raindrops burst into my face. Suddenly I see a light flash and after a few seconds I hear a thunder. Maybe it isn't too late to go inside yet. No, I can't. I still feel this tension around me. I should stay outside and stay alert. I'm not going to die because of a little bit of water anyway. I search for the moon. She's almost covered in dark clouds, but she's still there. No wait, that's not right. I'm covered in clouds, she isn't. She's far away, looking at how I get swallowed by this storm from a distance. The wind gets rougher and it starts raining harder. I close my eyes. It feels exactly as in my memories, my memories of the sea. The only thing that's missing is the sound of big waves trying to let my ship sink. I snap out of my memories by the sound of someone screaming my name.
"Sir Netherlands! Sir Netherlands!" I hear a man's voice scream through the loud sounds of the storm.
I open my eyes and see how a silhouette is running towards me. I recognize the man when he stops in front of me. He's one of the farmers living nearby the dykes if I'm right.
"Sir Netherlands! We have a big problem!" he screams.
Maybe I was right. Maybe there was a reason to be worried after all.
"What is it?" I scream so he can hear me over the sounds of the storm.
"The dykes! They can't hold it anymore! They are going to break!"
For a moment it's like time stands still. In that moment I realize what has been bothering me all the time. Tonight the moon really was luring something, but not me. She was luring the water, she was playing her little game with the sun. It's tide. I can feel how the sea is smashing big waves at me. It's too much. That power is too strong. Again lightning strikes my land. Exactly on that moment I feel how my dykes break. I let myself fall down to the ground and scream it out of pain. My legs, they feel like they're broken. Years ago I build these dykes to steal some more land from the sea, and now the sea is taking it back.
"Sir Netherlands! What's wrong?" the famer I almost forgot about screams.
I want to tell him the dykes broke, that he has to warn everyone, but I can't get a word over my lips. I'm still screaming in pain. Now I can feel how big waves are taking my land away. The water is coming closer, and really fast. Slowly the man realizes what's going on.
"Oh God…"
He quickly tries to get me up, but my legs just won't let me stand.
"Leave me here! Go warn the people!" I shout.
"I can't sir! Not now you're in a state like this!" he says with a trembling voice.
"I said go!"
For a moment the man stares into my face with a confused expression, but then he nods and carefully lays me down. Before he runs away he looks at me one more time.
"I said go!" I shout.
The man nods and starts running. He's banging on the doors of the houses and screams to everyone they have to go to the highest spot of their houses, but only a few people hear him because of the loud sounds of the storm. The water is so close now. I can't only feel it, I also see it coming at me now. With all the power I have I try to stand up. My legs protest but I manage to stand on them. I can see the big waves coming at me. The water is ghostly shining in the light of the moon.
"There you are again, my old friend," I say to the water.
The water doesn't stop, not even to listen to me , and throws big waves at me. I get dragged down by the water, gasping for air, but every time I'm almost at the surface the water pulls me under again, filling my lungs.
I can feel how my people are drowning…
-24 August 2010-
I'm staring at the sea. I get hypnotized by her rhythm. Take a bit of my land, give it back, take a bit of my land, give it back. These waves are peaceful and somehow calm me down a bit. For a moment I don't have to think of all my duties, for a moment I can just stare at the sea. The sea brings so many memories back to me, beautiful and horrible ones. The sea is my worst enemy, but at the same time my only friend. I snap out of my memories when I feel a hard thing thrown at my head.
"Aw!" I say while searching for what hit me.
Then I notice the red Frisbee lying next to me. A girl in a bikini and a small skirt is running at my direction.
"I'm so sorry sir!" she says while running.
I take the Frisbee from the ground and rise up. She stops running when she's standing in front of me and looks right into my eyes. I get the shock of my life. This girl… looks exactly like Annemiek! Only a few years older. For a moment I have the feeling I found her back, but I know I didn't. Annemiek is dead, she died because of the storm, she drowned. Just like more than 1800 other people did. The girl begins to feel a bit uncomfortable because I'm staring at her like that.
"I'm really sorry," she says as if she's a little kid.
I snap out of my memories and give her back the Frisbee.
"It's okay. Things like that happen," I say to her.
She takes the Frisbee, makes a little smile and runs back to her friends. It's really full at the beach. The people want to enjoy the weather before it gets cold again. I look at all the people at the beach. They are from different ages and they all seem to have fun. These are my people and from today on they will be always save from the sea. I turn around to the sea again.
"That's right buddy. I worked more than 50 years but it's finally done. The Deltaplan is finally completed. I build the strongest dykes humanity has ever seen so that a disaster as in 1953 never will happen again," I say to the sea.
The sea doesn't answer me. He just keeps on having her peaceful rhythm.
"Now all my people are save from you. I will always keep an eye on you though, because you seem peaceful now, but I know you can turn in a devastating monster," I say.
I walk into the sea. The cool water feels nice on a sunny day like this. The sand between my toes feels so familiar. Somehow the water feels like… home.
The water and I… we share a special bond. A bond maybe no other country has. And I feel happy by knowing, no one will ever make this bond go away. I close my eyes and whisper the words I admire so much.
"Ik zal handhaven…"
This is my entry for the 'Water' contest from the club APH-Netherlands on dA. When I saw the theme I directly thought of the North Sea Flood of 1953 (in Dutch 'Watersnoodramp' which literally means "flood disaster"). I think I need to explain a few things here (because most people aren't familiar with Dutch history ;D).
A big part of the Netherlands lays under sea level. Since the beginning we have fought against the water. We built dykes and have our natural protection, the dunes. On 31 January 1953 it was tide and there was a big storm, which our dykes couldn't handle. Many people, but also animals died.
After this disaster there came a plan we call: 'Het Deltaplan'. In a nutshell, this is what the plan contented:
1 We'll give the sea more space.
2 We'll built new strong dykes where needed.
3 We'll make our dunes stronger and higher.
In 24 August 2010 the last piece of the plan was completed.
As location for the first part of my story, I chose the Dutch province 'Zeeland'. This is the province which was hit the hardest. This is not the only reason I chose 'Zeeland', I also chose it because a big part of my family lives in that area. My grandma, my uncle and my aunts have experienced the flood. Don't worry, they all survived, but there were so many people that didn't.
About the last sentence Netherlands says, it's our motto. It's even in our Arm, but then in French (for some reason I don't know xD). In English it would be 'I will maintain'.
If something isn't clear, just ask! =D