It's the Forgotten States!

Empire State Building, New York City

"Let the first Annual Forgotten States Conference begin!" Arkansas slammed her fist against the table. "We smaller states need to be recognized!" The other states hooted and cheered, raising their arms into the air.

"Yeah, we should be rightly remembered as states too!" Idaho shouted.

"Alright, so let me take attendance...Connecticut," Arkansas started. Connecticut slowly raised his hand. "Why the hell do we have to be in New York?" He muttered.

Arkansas chuckled. "Well, if we hosted this conference anywhere else, nobody will no where to go," She explained, "Delaware?" A small woman jumped up. "Here, here!" She shouted.

"Okay, no need to get excited," Arkansas waved her hand down. "Idaho?" Idaho nodded her head.

"Indiana," A girl gave a thumbs up in response.

"Iowa?" Arkansas looked around the room. "Where's Iowa?"

"Nebraska said he was going to look for her," Minnesota said. Arkansas nodded. "Thanks," She said. She looked at the list, and a look of slight disgust came over her. "Ugh-Kansas."

"Hey, what was that for?" A man demanded. Arkansas rolled her eyes. "Missouri?"

"Yo," Missouri grinned.

"Montana," Arkansas called.

"'Sup," Montana crossed his legs against the table.

"Nevada?" Nevada flipped a casino coin.

"New Hampshire?" New Hampshire gave a little nod.

"Dakotas?" The twins both gave a toothy grin.

"Ohio," Arkansas turned to her right, where Ohio gave a little grunt. She smiled and continued. "Oklahoma?" A man tipped his cowboy hat.

"How about Oregon?" Oregon nodded.

"Rhode Island," Rhode Island raised his hand.

"Utah?" Utah winked at Arkansas, who felt a shiver go down her back.

"Vermont,"

"Hey," Vermont said.

"Washington!" Arkansas shouted.

"I'm here. I'm a state," Washington replied. Arkansas looked further down the list. "Uh, West Virginia?"

"I'm not Virginia," West Virginia mumbled.

"Wisconsin," Arkansas said.

"Here," Wisconsin answered.

"Wyoming,"

"Yo," Wyoming flicked her ponytail.

"Well that accounts for everybody," Arkansas said as she sat down.

"No wait, you forgot someone!" Rhode Island exclaimed. Arkansas turned her head. "What! Who?" She demanded. "How could I forget a state at a convention for forgotten states?"

"Canada! You forgot Canada!" Rhode Island shouted. Arkansas put her hand against he forehead. "Rhode, that's, he's an actual country," She muttered.

"Wait what?" Rhode Island was shocked. "I just thought he's a neighbor," He answered bewilderedly.

"Did you think that just because the name of our country is the 'United States of America' we actually have the entirety of the continent under our control?" Arkansas asked.

"Wait, we don't have the entirety of the continent to ourselves?" Rhode Island reiterated. Arkansas sighed. "Did you forget about Mexico?"

"You mean New Mexico?" Rhode Island countered, "By the way, where is he?"

"He was saying something about aliens and mars, and forced Arizona to tag along with him," Utah explained.

"Have we seriously gotten to the point where we don't even know who our brothers and sisters are?" Ohio grumbled.

"There's so many of us though, 50! 50 states!" Indiana exclaimed.

"Yeah, people don't know which of us are which," North Dakota added, while South nodded in the background. Arkansas arched her eyebrows. "Well, which one are you?"

"I'm North," South Dakota said.

"I'm South," North Dakota added.

"Oh, okay," Arkansas said.

"No wait, it's a joke! South Dakota exclaimed, "It's the opposite!"

"Hooya! I'm here!" Nebraska crashed through the door, carrying Iowa on his back.

"You're late," Arkansas snapped, "Where were you?"

"When I went to Iowa's house, she wasn't there. I tried calling her, but I couldn't reach her," Nebraska explained.

"I had my phone off," Iowa explained.

"I had to drive all over the state to look for her," Nebraska sighed.

"You just didn't have to get on top of a ladder and look across the entire state?" Nevada suggested. Nebraska glared at him. "What are you talking about?" He asked, before continuing. "I found her passed out in a field of corn with an empty bottle of whiskey."

"What? Why would you-" Arkansas looked quizzically at Iowa, who only shrugged. Nebraska grunted as he placed Iowa into a seat, taking a seat for himself afterwards. "I dunno, but we've been bored as well. People just forget us guys in the middle of nowhere."

"Actually, I'm fine with people forgetting about me," Montana piped up, "I just want to be left alone anyways."

"Don't be like that," Vermont said, "Don't you want to be recognized?"

"Does it even matter?" Montana asked back, "Do we really need to be 'recognized'?"

"Yes, we do! It's not fair that some of the more big states get all the publicity!" Idaho exclaimed.

Montana sighed. "Sure, whatever," He muttered.

"So, how do we make ourselves more noticeable?" Arkansas asked.

"How about we nuke California?" Nevada suggested.

"Let's not!" Washington rejected that proposal.

"Let's just have a Youtube star make a few vlogs in our state?" Delaware put forward.

"Aaaaah!" Ohio stood up and made a beeline for the window. Missouri got up and tackled Ohio to the ground. "You do not mention vlogs in front of Ohio!" He shouted, "Don't mention vlogs in front of Ohio!"

"Oh, my bad," Delaware said. Missouri glared at him. "Yeah, it is,"

Wyoming sat up. "I know! We could have a rodeo show! Those are amazing!"

"I agree," Nebraska said, "They're exciting, intense and enjoyable for everybody."

"That's a good idea," Arkansas noted, "This is a good start."

"But what if that attracts bad press? What happens when a bunch of hippies try to free our animals?" Vermont asked.

Massachusetts rolled his eyes. "They're hippies. We can just shoot them," He duly replied.

"That'll just create more problems…" Colorado muttered.

"Can we just fake a bunch of hauntings? People love haunted stuff." South Dakota said.

"Eeh? That's so sketchy," Utah replied, "In my case, I'll just have to make polygamy legal again,"

"Wasn't it already legal?" Rhode Island asked. Utah made a clicking noise with his tongue. "Details, details," He mumbled.

Oklahoma raised his hand. "How about we create a bunch of amusement parks? That gets the attention and money," He offered.

"But the costs, costs costs…" North Dakota trailed off.

Oklahoma shrugged his shoulders. "Well, we don't have to have any safety measures or trained staff. We can just hire teenagers for minimum wage," He added.

"I can sense a lawsuit," Iowa blurted out.

"Hey, what about you? Got any ideas?" Oklahoma snapped. Iowa grumbled. "Shut up, cowboy," She muttered. Oklahoma stood up. "Say something, farmer girl?" He shouted. Iowa turned red and swiveled her chair away from Oklahoma.

"Hey no need to get angry," New Hampshire stood up as well, getting in between the two. "Can't we all get along?"

"He's right. We can't fight among each other," Arkansas declared, "This is a problem shared by all of us."

Oklahoma and New Hampshire sat back down, while Iowa continued to pout.

"Marijuana brings all people together," Washington whistled.

"Every state is basically legalizing weed now, remember?" Kansas pointed out. Washington slapped the table. "Dammit! We're not special anymore!"She screamed.

"How about we secede?" Connecticut said.

"Secede?" Arkansas swiveled her head. Connecticut nodded. "Yup. If we don't get the respect we deserve, we should just leave the Union!" He exclaimed.

Arkansas narrowed her eyes. "How does that make our position any better?" She asked.

"Yeah! People will respect us more," Connecticut replied. Arkansas shook her head. "No, no, no. Not at all."

"The South did it!" Wisconsin chipped in. Arkansas wheeled to face her. "And look how they turned out?" She demanded.

"Hey, we're completely fine!" Missouri shouted.

Arkansas slumped down against the table. "Huuuh," She sighed, "We didn't get very far, have we?"

"Hey, how about this idea?" Ohio started, and everybody stared at him. "How about…" Ohio continued, with everybody eagerly waiting. "We do nothing?" He finished, "It's not like anything bad is happening."

"Then what was the whole point of this meeting?" Nebraska shouted.

"Just hanging out, you know," Ohio answered, "Did you really think anything would come out of this?"

"I guess not," Arkansas groaned, "I guess things are just fine the way things are."

What is up, guys! Thanks for reading, I hope this chapter worked out well. All the states mentioned were ones I personally feel like they are forgotten(and states that I actually forgot, I won't name which ones). Well, as always, until next time!