...
I'm...
...floating...
...
I've never felt like this before...
...It's like...
...like the mind is free and...
...
I don't feel bad...
...or good...
...
I'm in peace...
...
...Is this what death is like?...
...If that's so...no one should be afraid of dying...
...Living is far, far worse...
...Maybe this is what it feels like...before we are born...
...Just floating in emptiness...
...worried about nothing...
...afraid of nothing...
...being nothing...
...
...Worried about nothing, I said?...
No...
...even now I can't stop thinking about Sealand...
They always told me one meets their loved ones they lost when they die...
...I don't see you here...
...so you must be alive...
I want to believe it's true...
You had so much to do...
I never meant anything I said...
...you could have been great...no need for magic...
...you had that sparkle inside of you...
I never meant anything that I said to you...
...
I'm sorry...
...I tried to make amends, and here I am...
I don't know what will happen now...
...all of my friends, the people I've known...everyone...will surely end up here...
...she won't let anybody live...
...the world is already hers...
...and she will set it on fire just because she can...
...
Why does that worry me?
...
That is none of my concern now...I'm dead...
...This feels so cosy...
...I don't mind staying like this for all eternity...
...not thinking about it, or anything...
But I can't...
England needs me...
My daughter Daisy says I'm crazy, wants to stop me, but she can't...I still want to go, even if I need my walkers to move around, even if I'm old and fragile...I fought for him in the forties...Things looked very grim back then too, but we made it, God, we made it, and I will fight again...I made a vow, to defend him, because he is my home and of those I love, my children, my grandchildren, and I'm not sitting in here like part of the furniture waiting for that witch to destroy it...even at the cost of my life...
...
...What am I saying? I never had children, or grandchildren...
I'm just seven...
But I understand that something very bad is going on...Mum is crying all the time, wondering what will become of us...I've seen Daddy cry too, and daddies never cry...We had to leave Whiskers at home...I hope he's alright...Will the animals of the zoo be alright too? I fear I never go back again...
...No, wait...
Judith...Why am I worrying about animals when my girl is still in York and I haven't been able to talk to her in two days?
...I just got the UK citizenship and this happens...Please, God, don't let anything bad happen...I love this country, I've dreamed about being English and moving here since I was small, you know how hard I worked to make it...It feels good in here, please, God, God Almighty, don't let that monster destroy this...
We've gone through worse. So much, much worse...England will rise from his ashes...
I'd rather cut my throat than bow to that freak...
Is the Queen alright? Is England alright?
Granny, oh, granny! After what I've seen on Instagram...She can't be dead...Please, no...Tell me she got to escape...I don't care what Dad says, I'm going back there and fight that bitch, no matter how...O Lord our God arise / Scatter her enemies / And make them fall / Confound their politics / Frustrate their knavish tricks / On Thee our hopes we fix /God save us all...England will come any second now and will put that harpy in her place, I'm sure of it!...Maybe if all of us team up to attack...She can kill me now: I will forever be British...We will go back to the countryside, to the picnics and the sunny days...Don't be scared, children, everything will be alright...
...It's strange...
I hear all these voices...like they are my own thoughts. But they are not...
...No...They are...
It's my people...
It's still me...
I am Judy, Albert, Mable, John, Ernest, Oliver, Mary, Katherine...
As long as there is someone out there who loves me, who misses me, I will keep on living. The day they decide it is over, only then will I die.
Sealand is still loved. Tul-La can't take him away from me. No one can!
And Tul-La...I understand...Now I understand what Algonquin meant...
Her time is long gone. Those barbarians who created her disappeared thousands of years ago. She has no place in the world today. She is something we overcame long ago. She doesn't have anyone to long her, to mourn her, to love her. All she does is hurt. She thinks fear brings people to her side, when actually all she does is scare them away...I doubt she is a nation anymore...Just a witch, some demonic entity, maybe, but she's not one of us...Which means...
She can be defeated...
One day, God decided to bind us to a body so we could be closer to our people and our people could be closer to us. We often forget what we are and why we are here. They say it is a prison of flesh and bone, imperfect, subject to hunger, cold, heat and sleep. Maybe it is so...Now that I have no body I feel like I can think much clearer, without those limitations, and I'm closer to my essence...What I'm supposed to be...
But I want to go back. I have to go back.
I think I could do what I want with my body, take the form I like. A lion, massive, strong, with big claws to protect what is mine and a roar which will make my enemies tremble. Or something smaller but still fierce. A bulldog, as some used to call me...No, if I have to be born again, I'd want to be a human once more. I could still make changes, even be a woman this time, the Motherland; I've sometimes fantasized about what I would look like if I was a lady: very long hair, strong yet delicate features. But I'll stay the way I've been for so many centuries. It wouldn't feel right to look at myself in the mirror and find someone different. I like myself. I was born with that appearance for some reason. I will stay the way I'm supposed to look...
I want that woman and the whole world to recognize me and see...
IT WILL ONLY BE OVER WHEN I SAY IT IS OVER!
The dark suddenly disappeared in an explosion of light, and he saw Tul-La turning around and, probably for the first time in her life, let out a scream of pure terror.