Day One:
Francis strode down the ramp connecting his ship to the damp earth below. His boots left footprints, the first European footprints to have ever touched that spot.
"This is it!" He called up to the others who were still on the ship. "This is where I want the flag to be!"
Two young men carried a large French flag off of the boat and handed it to Francis. He picked it up, lifted it high above the ground, and stuck it firmly into the dirt. "I now declare this land to be an official French colony."
Many cheering voices erupted from the boat as a response to this statement. They drifted along on the cool wind, eventually reaching the ears of a small boy and his bear.
Mathew Williams was not sure where he had come from, nor where he was, or how he had gotten there. Prior to a few seconds before these thought occurred to him, he had been unaware of his own existence. Now he was suddenly awake, knowing nothing but that someone once had called him Mathew. No, not Mathew. Something else. But what?
"Who are you?" A small voice asked from close by.
Mathew looked down to see a white bear cub resting against his leg. Somehow, a new word appeared on the tip of his tongue, as if pulled from somewhere deep within his mind. "I'm Canada," he said, surprising himself with how certain he sounded, as of there was no doubt in his mind that 'Canada' was what he should be called. "I'm Canada!" His mouth broke into a huge smile. Suddenly, everything felt familiar. The trees, the rocks, the birds, it was as if the land itself was a part of him.
Mathew hesitated. One thing seemed wrong. Somewhere, far past where he could see, there was something unfamiliar. It felt strange to him, but at the same time Mathew couldn't help but feel drawn towards it. "Follow me," he whispered to the bear, somehow knowing that they were to stay together. "I think we need to find the feeling."
If the bear had any question as to what the boy meant, he did nothing to show it. He just stood up and followed Mathew as the child walked towards the shore.
"I think we should set up here next to the flag, so that Angleterre will easily see us when he arrives," Francis watched his crew unload from the edge of the forest. "Don't you agree, Claude?"
"Yes, I quite agree," Claude, Francis' newly assigned assistant, said quickly. "It will hopefully deter him from trying to colonise in this area as well." Claude tries to make it sound as if he knew what he was talking about, but in reality he knew little more of how colonisation worked than most small children.
The quiet and peaceful atmosphere was abruptly taken from the area by the sound of crunching leaves and sticks. Both Claude and Francis took a large step back, expecting the worst. After all, this was unexplored land; who knew what could be lurking in these woods.
However, their fears were proved to be unnecessary when a small child and a bear cub were revealed to be the source of the noise.
"What is this?" Francis asked, staring at the pair with a mixture of surprise and curiosity.
"Um, I believe it is a child, sir."
Francis gave Claude an exasperated look. "Yes, I realise it is a child. What I mean is what is it doing here?"
He bent down on his knees so that he was level with the child. "Hello, mon cher. What are you doing out here on your own?"
The boy looked up and Francis found himself staring into a pair of the most innocent looking purple eyes he had ever seen. "I'm Canada."
Hey everyone! I decided that this year I'm doing something for Canada Day and Independence Day. It will be a four chapter story following the idea that America and Canada's birthdays are on their countries respective holiday. This one would be longer, but it's 6 am and I need to sleep.
Oh, and Claude is an OC. He won't kill you, I swear, I just needed someone to be France's assistant.
Have a lovely day everyone and please leave a review if there is anything you like or that I need to improve on!
-GS