Thankfully, the awkwardness was gone now. I hate awkwardness. It's so…awkward.
"Well," America said. "What do we do now?"
After another long pause, which only brought more awkwardness, Zara suddenly did the unexpected (well, unexpected for a normal person, expected for Zara) and screamed "HIDE!"
Not hesitating for even a moment, my friends and I spun 180's and ran at top speed for the nearby woods. Now, I know that you're not supposed to look back, but I did anyways. The countries hadn't moved from where they stood, no doubt frozen in shock. Good! This would give us a good head start!
In case you didn't get any of that, we had decided to play hide & seek, (no we don't care that we're too old for it), and we hadn't exactly told the countries. Heck, we hadn't told the countries at all!
Because I didn't want to trip and fall and fail epically, I turned my head back around and grinned hugely as my friends and I sprinted for the woods.
Zara's POV
Yay it's time to play hide and seek! Gotta find a place to hide! Gotta hide gotta hide gotta-birdie! I looked up and saw a fat little white bird sitting on a branch. It was really loud and annoying, saying, "CHAPCHAPCHAPCHAPCHAPCHAPCHAP!" over and over again!
"Shh!" I said, holding a finger up to my lips and shushed very loudly. "Don't give me away!"
"CHAPCHAPCHAPCHAPCHAPCHAPCHAP!" the bird kept going on and on and on. It didn't even stop to listen to me! "Hel-lo? Rude!" I said, but the annoying bird kept making weird noises, so I decided to ignore it and to keep going.
I looked around for a place to hide, but there was nothing good! I was just about to yell for Safi when I noticed that my sock was wet. I looked down and saw that I'd stepped into a small pond. Perfect! I could hide in here! So I jumped in.
"Brr!" I exclaimed, shivering a bit. I was about to go hide underwater, but then I remembered that I wouldn't be able to breathe anymore. Dang! I wish I really was a mermaid! How cool would that be?! But sadly, it wasn't true, so I'd have to use my smarticles instead. I looked around the pond and found some of those hollow reeds that cartoons always breathe through in cartoons! Perfect! I plucked up one of the reeds and stuck in my mouth. It tasted funny. I tried to breathe through the reed, but it was like breathing through a skinny straw! I spat the reed out. What was I going to do now?
Just then, I heard the countries making their way through the woods. They were getting closer by the second.
Oh crap! They're here already! I panicked. I took a huge gulp of air and ducked under.
I don't know how long I was under for, but it seemed like forever. My lungs were about to burst, so I had no choice but to come up for air. I sprang to the surface, sputtering and splashing. It occurred to me that if I'd have been quieter about it and I might've been able to stay hidden… OH WELL!
I coughed and rubbed the water from my eyes. The first thing I saw was Italy leaning over the edge, looking at me with those weird closed eyes of his and a goofy smile on his face. "Ve! I found you bella!" he said happily.
I don't know why he kept calling me Bella, cuz I'm pretty sure my name's Zara… Of course I could always be wrong. "Not until you catch me!" I yelled, paddling away.
Italy reached out to touch me, but his coordination (BIG WORD!) must've been as bad as mine because he fell right into the water! "Ve! Help me! I'm-a drowning!" he screamed, floundering around in the water, arms waving spasmodically.
"Italy!" I giggled, paddling over to him. "Just stand up!" I grabbed his shoulders and pulled him to his feet. The next thing I knew, I was holding him Scooby-Doo style. I couldn't believe that I'd been able to hold him! I mean, he's a pretty small guy, but I'm such a weakling! It's a miracle!
"Ve! You saved me! Thank you bella!" Italy said happily.
I was confused for a minute. I didn't do much… "Yeah… You're welcome!" I said happily, grinning.
Then Italy leaned in closer to me and whispered in my ear. "Bella?"
"Yeah?" I said, not sure why I was answering to what was clearly not my name.
"I caught you!" Italy declared happily, a huge smile spreading over his face.
I sputtered. "What? No! I caught you!"
Italy shook his head, still smiling. "But I wasn't hiding!" he told me.
"But… But…" I tried to come up with a comeback, but I got nothing. "Okay fine," I said, sticking my tongue out at Italy.
"Yaaaay!" Italy said happily.
I tried to let go of Italy, but he clung onto me all the same. So I shrugged it off and walked out of the pond. As soon as the water was beyond my waist, my weakness returned. "GAH!" yelped, unable to keep upright. I tripped under the sudden weight, dropping Italy and we both went tumbling into the muddy brush. The miracle was over. It occurred to me that maybe my sudden super-strength could have come from being in the water… Nah.
"Ve! Are you okay bella?" I heard Italy say and then I saw his head pop up above some brush. He had mud on his face and two twigs sticking out on both sides of his head like antlers.
When I saw this, I began to giggle.
"What are you laughing at bella?" Italy asked, making a very cute confused face.
"Y-Your hair!" I said, my giggles turning into laughter. "You have antlers!"
Italy put up his hands and felt the twigs in his hair. "AAAAAAH!" he screamed and began running around, yelling, "I've-a turned into a deer! I don't want to be a deer!"
"Italy!" I laughed, getting up and yanking the twigs out of his hair. "It's just sticks, see?"
Italy looked at the sticks with closed eyes. "Ve!" You're right bella!" he said, then he looked at me. Strangely, he started laughing.
"What?" I asked, confused.
"You look like a unicorn!" Italy laughed and pointed at my head.
I walked over to the pond and looked at my reflection. Then I started laughing along with Italy. There was a twig in my hair, sticking strait out of the middle of my forehead. I did look like a unicorn!
"Come on Italy," I said when our laughter had ended. "Let's go find the others. I betcha they haven't even been found yet!"
"Ve! Okay!" Italy said happily, linking his arm through mine and we skipped off through the woods together, laughing all the way.
Safi's POV
I knew that we probably should've told the countries where we were going, but that'd take away from the fun!
Anyway, I was determined not to be found. So I ran around looking for a good place to hide. I love trees, so naturally I was looking for a hiding spot that was tree-related. I wasn't having a whole lot of luck, and I was just about to give up, but then I found the spot. It was a large oak tree, with very big branches. A ways off the ground, the tree had a great big hole in it.
I grinned at the hole. Yes! I grabbed one of the low-hanging branches and swung myself up onto another branch. From there, I climbed up to the hole in the tree like an epic ninja-cat. I looked into the hole. It wasn't as big as it had looked from on the ground, but I could probably fit in. The hole was still a little way up; I had to jump op to grab the bottom edge of it. From there I pulled myself up and very carefully turned myself around and slowly began to lower myself into the hole. It was a tight squeeze, but not enough for me to get stuck. Because I didn't want my arms pinned to my sides, I grabbed the edge of the hole and used it to push myself further down. Then my sock-feet hit the bottom of the hole. I looked down and frowned. My head still wasn't in the hole.
Before I could figure out a plan to hide my head, I saw the brush rustling in the brush a ways a way. I gasped and ducked my head, which probably didn't hide it very well, but there wasn't much I could do. I really hoped that whatever was in the brush wasn't a bear, or a cougar, or some sort of evil forest dragon. A nice forest dragon would be fine, even cool, but not an evil forest dragon.
I didn't hear anything for a while, and I was about to raise my head to look around, but then I heard/felt something through the tree. Something was climbing it. It didn't sound big and clunky like a bear, so I could rule that out. In fact, by the way that it climbed, it made me think of something more apelike. I really really hoped that some sort of evil forest gorilla was coming for me, or any gorilla really.
I bit down on my lip and shut my eyes tightly as the thing came closer, and closer…
"There you are!" I gasped, thinking, A talking evil gorilla! and looked up to see...not an evil gorilla.
"China!" I said, letting out a sigh of relief. "You scared me!"
China smiled a bit. "Sorry-aru. I didn't mean to startle you, but I did mean to find you."
I didn't ask why he had called me Aru; instead I smiled good-naturedly and began to pull myself out of the hole. When everything from my knees up was out of the hole, I couldn't get out by pushing anymore. I reached for something to grab to pull myself out with, but my hands found nothing. Before I could regain my balance I started to fall forward. I squeezed my eyes shut and did the one thing I could do. I yelled, "HELP!"
I was suddenly grabbed by the back of my shirt. "It's okay!" I heard China reassure me. "I got you-aru!"
I opened my eyes, which was a mistake. I gasped when I saw the ground far below me and I tried to scramble upwards and I grabbed the first stable thing I felt…which happened to be China. I blushed a bit, but I clung to him tighter still. I did not wasn't to fall.
"Don't worry," China said and his arm wrapped firmly around my waist, only making me blush more. "You're safe now." He bent over a bit to look at my face. "Are you okay-aru?" he asked me.
I gulped, managing a nod, but not managing to look him in the eyes. "Y-Yeah," I said. "I'm okay."
"Good," China said. "Because I'm going to need you to hang on."
I looked at him, puzzled. "Why would I need to hang oAAAAAAAAAAAAAHN!" I screamed as China leapt from the tree. I once again squeezed my eyes shut and waited to be dead, but after a bump, there was no more movement. Everything was still.
"We are on the ground now-aru," China told me. "You can let go now."
"… Are you sure?" I asked. There was no way that I was going to let go until I was absolutely sure that I was not going to fall anymore.
I felt China suppress a chuckle. "Yes," he told me. "You're safe now."
I slowly, slowly opened my eyes, to see the ground under my feet. … Well, technically under China's feet. I was still clinging on to him. Realizing this, I let go suddenly and stepped away, blushing madly. I looked down at my feet and noticed that I was covered in cobwebs, sap and rotten tree bark.
China looked at me with a small, kind smile. He had his fair share of bark on him as well. "What were you doing up there anyway-aru?" He asked me, carefully pulling some twigs out of his ponytail.
I swallowed, trying to suppressing my blushing as I raked my fingers through my hair, pulling out some cobwebs. "Playing hide and seek," I said quietly.
China cocked his head slightly. "Why would you do this and not tell us-aru?"
I shrugged. "More fun."
"But how would we know to look for you?"
"You looked for me."
China didn't really have an answer for that, so after a while of thinking, he smiled at me. "Come on," he said, jutting his head towards the woods. "We should go and find the other countries." He grabbed my hand and led me in that direction, me blushing all the way.
3rd Person POV, Alex and Mari
Alex and Mari ran together through the forest. They were smart and had decided to stay together so that if they got lost and had to live in the forest for the rest of their lives cannibalism could be an option… JUST KIDDING! They just didn't want to be alone in the woods while they hid, although they had discussed cannibalism before…
"Hey! Look at that!" Alex said to Mari.
Mari followed Alex's pointing finger and saw a large group of big wild strawberry bushes. "Perfect!" Mari said. "That's a great place to hide!"
"Hide?" Alex asked Mari, a confused look on her face. "I meant the berries. I'm getting kindof hungry…"
Mari rolled her eyes good naturedly. "Then I guess you won't mind if I hide in there," she said.
"Are you kidding?!" Alex exclaimed, putting her hands on her hips. "And ruin the strawberries?! I don't think so!"
Mari frowned. "But we need to hide from the countries!" she reasoned. "You don't want to be found, do you?"
"But I wanna eeeeeeeat!" Alex whined.
Mari ignored her and began making her way into the bush, but she was grabbed by the scruff of her shirt and yanked back. She turned to look at Alex, who had a murderous look on her face. "I said," she said. "Don't. Touch. The strawberries."
Mari narrowed her eyes at her friend. "Do you want to go bro?" she asked.
"I TOLD YOU YOU'RE BANNED FROM SAYING BRO!" Alex screamed. "It sounds so weird when you say it! You're supposed to be a grammar Nazi!"
"I'll say what I want to when I want to!" Mari yelled back. "I'm going to hide in this strawberry bush, wreck the berries, and there's nothing you can do about it!" She turned on her heel and marched into the bush.
"NO!" Alex shrieked and tackled Mari to the ground. As they had in the meeting room during breakfast, there was an all-out brawl on the forest floor. It was very entertaining to watch, which is why America and England didn't do anything at first.
"… Should we stop them?" England asked America, not looking away from the girls.
When the younger nation didn't answer, England turned to see that America had his iPhone out. "Dude," he said. "This is totally going on YouTube."
England got mad at America. "You git! You should at least ask their permission first!"
America frowned. "Hey lay off English dude!" he exclaimed.
"Delete that video immediately!" England demanded, reaching for the iPhone.
"No! I do what I want biatch!" America countered, holding the iPhone just out of England's reach, brutally reminding the Brit of his adversary's height advantage.
Soon they were in a brawl too. Eventually the two dust clouds merged into one, and noticing the close proximity of the others, everyone stopped.
"What are you guys doing?" Alex asked, Mari standing next to her.
England and America glanced at each other. "Nothing…" they said unconvincingly.
Mari and Alex crossed their arms. "Boys," Mari said like a mother talking to feuding children, secretly amused that the countries had failed to confront her and Alex about their fight.
Before England could say anything, America pointed at him and said, "England was telling me what to doooo!"
"What?!" England exclaimed. "You were going to post a video of them on the internet you bloody-"
"Hey! You can't tell America what to do!" Alex said, crossing her arms. "He's great!"
"Heck yeah!" America exclaimed, doing a fistpump. "My citizen is awesome!"
Mari frowned. "You were going to post a video of us fighting? You can't do that without asking!"
"Actually, I can," America said, holding up his iPhone. "I got the whole thing on video."
Mari's voice began to get very red, and eyes reflected her murderous thoughts.
When America saw this, he began backing away, being unusually smart for who he was. "Hey now," he said. "We're all bros here, right? Which is why you won't mind if I post this, right?" Aaaaaand there went the unusual smartness.
Mari was just about to launch herself at America, when England beat her to it. "I WON'T LET YOU!" the Brit screamed, once again engaging in a brawl.
"YEAH! Go England!" Mari yelled, smiling in triumph. She grabbed a handful of strawberries and began chucking them at the American idiot with spectacular aim.
"Ow! Ow! OW!' America cried out as each strawberry hit him. He couldn't block the offending berries for he desperately did not want England to win.
"NO!" Alex yelled, jumping in and putting herself between the fighting countries and Mari's strawberries of doom. When Mari paused to reload, Alex turned and kicked England in the forehead, sending him somersaulting backwards and into the brush.
"HEY!" Mari screamed when she saw what had happened to the unfortunate nation. "You can't do that to England! He's too awesome!"
"RUN!" Alex yelled as she dragged America into the protection of the strawberry bushes. She pushed him to the ground so that they were both on their stomachs in the dirt.
Alex's POV
That was the last straw…berry. First Mari'd wanted to ruin the strawberries, then she'd told America what to do, then she'd wasted strawberries by throwing them at him! This means war!
America looked at me strangely "What'ere you doing-"
He was interrupted as I slapped my hand over his mouth. Hey… He's kinda cute! But I'll have to save my hot-guy knowledge for a later date. "Sh!" I told him before removing my hand to wipe some strawberry off his face. "We're in the belly of the beast now, my friend. We have Mari as an adversary, which is never good-"
"So what're we gonna d-OW!" America exclaimed as he was hit with a strawberry.
"I said sh!" I said again, silently apologizing to the strawberry for wasting it to get him to listen. "Now, as I was saying," I continued, picking strawberries off the bush and therefor breaking my vow to do nothing to strawberries but eat them. "Mari may be a worthy adversary," I turned and grinned evilly at America. "But so am I."
America stared at me for a moment, and then his face broke into an equally evil smile. "I like the way you work, shawty," he said, trying and failing to pull off a gangster voice.
I bit back a laugh at his epic fail, but smiling at the oddly complimenting statement. "All right then. For the USA, and strawberries! ATTACK!"
Mari's POV, a few minutes before
Ohohoho, so Alex wanted a war, did she? Well then, a war she would get.
I jumped into the bush, crawling around on my hands and knees, whisper-calling, "England! England!" I was just about to give up, when something came hurtling at me through the brush. I shrieked as we rolled around through the brush. I was soon pinned to the ground.
"Got you Yankie!" England yelled from on top of me. When he looked at my face, his green eyes widened in horror. "Oh no!" he exclaimed as he jumped off of me, visibly startled "I-I'm so sorry love! I thought you were America!"
I hadn't moved from my spot on the ground. I was a bit frozen in shock from the close proximity I'd just been with the English man. Knowing that my silence was only making the encounter that much more awkward, I forced myself to sit up. "I-It's okay," I said, trying to keep my breathing from becoming unusually loud. "It was an accident."
There was a moment of awkward silence, then England said, "That bloody wanker! I'll kill him! If he hadn't taken that video this wouldn't have happened!"
I turned to look at England. He was sitting in the dirt with his head bowed, and he was visibly shaking with anger. "Why do you care?" I asked. The question was not rude, just honest.
England raised his head to look at me, met my eyes and became extremely flustered. "I j-just don't think it's right. I didn't want that wanker posting that video. Knowing how quickly the internet works, you two might become the next laughing stock of the internet. I didn't want that to happen."
I looked at him for a moment, and then I smiled. "Well, let's make sure that doesn't happen then." I said, fingering some nearby strawberries.
England took a second to process what I'd said, and then he grinned an evil smile that could rival even mine.
"Ready love?" he asked me after we'd loaded up. I nodded. "On three… One, two three-"
Just then, America and Alex burst through the bush, Alex screaming,
"ATTACK!"
My POV
In retrospect, my friends and I probably should've stayed together as a group. Then again, that would only make us easier to find. Of course there's always the chance of me getting lost out here on my own… But I've watched plenty of Survivor Man and I've read the Hatchet books, so I'd be fine…although I lacked a hatchet…and a harmonica.
ANYWAYS, being an experienced hide-and-seeker, I knew that the best way to keep hidden was to keep changing your hiding spot. So I walked around, looking for a spot to hide in that would hide me well but I could easily get out of without making much noise. Yes, I happen to be a very picky hider. Get over it. I finally found a place that I deemed worthy; a very large cedar tree. I smiled as I began to climb up the cedar's rather large low-hanging branches, remembering the tall cedars at my grandparents' house.
It took me not long at all to reach a good height in the tree, which was a very good thing, because I heard someone moving through the brush. Quickly, I positioned myself in the tree so that the trunk was between me and the direction I'd heard the noises coming from.The noises continued and soon they turned into footsteps. They came closer and closer until they stopped right under the tree.
I quieted my breath, closed my eyes and became very still, thinking, Tree, tree, be the tree.
There was no noise for a long time. Had the person snuck away unnaturally quietly? I had to control my curiosity so that I didn't move to look at who it was, or if they were even still there. If I hold still long enough, if they don't see me, they'll go away…
"Vhat are you doing up zere?" I heard a familiar German voice say from directly below me.
Dang! I sighed and turned to look down at Germany. It was funny to see him from above, a perspective I hadn't had the pleasure of viewing. He looked straight up at me with a confused look on his face. "Well, I was hiding," I said simply.
Germany's eyebrows knit together in confusion. "Vhy vere you hiding?" he asked.
"Hide and seek, duh." I replied, repositioning myself so that my back was leaning against the tree and I crossed my arms over my chest as I casually looked down at him. "And now you've found me."
After a long pause of neither of us moving, Germany finally said, "Aren't you going to come down?"
"Nope." I replied simply.
This only made the German more confused. "Vhy?" he asked.
I smirked, partially at his accent, which I enjoyed hearing. "We play tag hide-and-seek. You have to tag me before I quit."
Germany frowned. "I am not coming up zere!" he stated firmly.
My smirk turned into a real smile. "Guess I'll have to run then!" I said. Before Germany could ask just how I was going to do that, and before I even knew what I was doing, I broke out into a run along the strong bow I was standing on. Relying on my speed and my bare feet to cancel out my natural incoordination, I ran down the length of the branch until it tapered to a width that would no longer support my weight, and I leaped.
"NEIN!" Germany screamed, but I paid him no heed.
Gasping, I forced myself to keep my eyes open as I flew through the cedar leaves slightly feet-first. My feet made contact with a branch and my hands grabbed onto one also. Then I was still. I look down to see that I was standing on the branch of a paper birch, my hands grasping another branch above my head for support. I twisted my head around to see where I'd broken through the cedar leaves, and I hadn't lost hardly any height!
My face broke into a huge, open-mouthed grin. How had I done that?! I'd never have been able to do that back in our world… That's it! It's this anime world! It lets the impossible become possible! THIS IS GREAT! I looked down at Germany, who was gaping at me with a shocked expression that only anime could produce. I laughed, partially at his funny face, partially in sheer amazement at what I'd just done. "That was amazing!" I cried out into the forest, then my eyes widened with an idea. "Let's see if I can do it again!"
Germany's face changed from unconscious shock to conscious horror. "Nein! Nein! Don't do tha-OH MEIN-!"
"WOO HOO!" I yelled as I leaped to another tree, drowning out Germany's (no doubt) swearing. This time, my feet didn't make contact with anything, but my hands did. My momentum was enough to swing me up and around the branch like the gymnast I was NOT, yelling "WoahoahOAH!" and I landed with my legs on either side of the branch, clutching it in front of me. I broke out into another bout of laughter. "This is crazy! This is absolutely crazy!" I exclaimed to myself in sheer joy.
"You've got zat right!" I smiled down at Germany beneath me. Ha! This tree had no lowing hanging branches so he couldn't climb up to get me even if he wanted to! "Get down here before you fall und break your neck!" he yelled.
"Hm," I said, as if considering his command. "How 'bout…no." I stood up on the branch I was sitting on, using the tree trunk for support, and leaped to another tree.
This ordeal carried on for a while. I'd leap to a tree, Germany'd follow on the ground and scream at me, I'd leap to another tree. It's not like I was doing anything super-ninja; the trees in this part of the forest were perfect for this kind of thing, and as long as long as I didn't think much about what I was doing, I always landed safely.
After a few more minutes, my height had decrease to about ten feet above the ground, and Germany had stopped screaming. He did continue to follow me from the ground however, muttering to himself what were probably mostly threats in angry German. "Vhy do you keep jumping avay?" He stopped his muttering to yell at me. "Vhat are you doing?"
"Whee!" I said, jumping to another branch then hung upside-down on it. If Germany had been closer, I would've been nearly eye to eye with him. "Trying to lose you." I said simply, quickly flipping myself upright again and balancing myself on the branch incase Germany tried to pull me to the ground.
Germany looked confused. "… Vhy?" he asked.
"It's how you play the game," I said shrugging. "No offence or anything, but I have to be caught before I will come with you." I jumped to another tree. "Although," I said, gripping the trunk. "It is pretty slow going."
"Zen vhy don't you give up?"
"NEVA!" I exclaimed before jumping away again.
Germany sighed. "You do know that you'll fall eventually," he stated oh so encouragingly.
I looked down at him and shook my head. "Nope." I said. "I don't believe in falling"*
Germany looked at me funny for about the hundredth time that day. "… I don't zink zat's how it vorks…" he said.
I grinned. "Sure it is!" I said. "Watch this!" and I leaped. I really shouldn't have said that because I misjudged the distance I slipped. I gasped as my feet didn't grip the branch and I fell…almost. My hands caught the branch I'd tried to land on and I dangled there helplessly.
"I told you!" I heard Germany running to me.
Grunting, I tried to pull myself up, but it was no use. I dropped to the ground, my legs buckling and ended up with one knee and one hand on the ground. "I didn't fall," I said, my back turned to Germany as I dusted myself off. "That was a drop, not a fall. Drops are voluntarY!" I yelped as my shoulders were grabbed and I was spun around.
"ARE YOU CRAZY FRAU?!" Germany shouted in my face as he shook my shoulders violently, my head whipping back and forth. "You could've been killed!"
"Ubaduadubarga!" I tried to speak as my head continued its wild motions.
Germany, realizing that I could not answer in this state, stopped shaking me to stare at me with a very angry face, but when I looked into his blue eyes and saw…concern.
I smiled mischievously. "Were you worried about me?"
Germany's face turned to surprise, as did mine. Even I was surprised at my own cockiness! It must've been extra-high from my epic tree adventure because normally I wouldn't have said anything like that.
My face heated up, and I was about to try and somehow fix what I'd said, but before I could say anything, Germany looked away and muttered, "I…just didn't vant you to get hurt. Zat's all."
I blinked. I wasn't sure what to say…so I smiled again. "Gave you quite the scare, didn't I?" I said, giving into this newfound cockiness.
Germany turned back to glare at me. He lifted one hand from my shoulder. "Don't. Ever. Do. Zat. Again." He said firmly, accenting each word with a poke.
I blinked and flinched with each poke, but when he was done, Germany let go of my shoulders and I smiled once again. Aw, he does care! I thought to myself.
"So you finally caught me," I said aloud. This cockiness was kind of fun!
Germany nodded. "Und I am going to make sue zat you don't run avay again."
Before I could react, Germany grabbed my arms and threw me over his shoulder. "Oof!" I grunted as my stomach made contact with his shoulder. "Hey! What's the big idea? Put me down!" I yelled, my face heating up again.
Germany's arm wrapped firmly around my legs and he started to walk. "Nein." he said without looking at me.
I sighed, blowing my hair out of my face. "Where are we going?" I asked.
"To find your friends und ze ozer countries," he said as we walked through the brush.
"I've been caught you know," I pointed out. "I'm not gonna run away again."
"Not taking any chances," Germany stated as he continued walking.
I sighed again as I propped my head on my elbow against Germany's back, being glad that he could not see my small smile.
*Where I'd Like To Be, by Frances O'Roark Dowell. Great book! Real deep for being told by an eleven-year-old! Read it!
