When England awoke from his ever-so-peaceful slumber, he instantly realized that something seemed a bit… off.

Rubbing the sleep out of his emerald green orbs, he quickly scanned the room for anything that appeared suspicious. But, the more he took in his environment, the more it seemed that everything was indeed perfectly normal.

England blinked twice.

Now, that's odd, he thought to himself. I can't quite place it, but I have the nagging feeling that something just doesn't seem right…

He scanned his bedroom again, giving it a thorough once-over. At first glance, it appeared as though nothing had changed; his books were all stored immaculately in his bookshelf. His teacup was still on his side table, just as he'd left it the night before. His stuffed unicorn still sat in his armchair in the corner of the room, seemingly untouched. The sunrays were spilling through his open window, the crisp June morning creating a slight breeze that ruffled through his blonde locks an–

Wait. Backtrack.

Open window?

England's eyes widened with panic. He could have sworn that window was closed before he went to bed last night. He hadn't gotten up in the middle of the night to open it, so that could only mean that…

…Somebody was in his house. And he was going to find out who.

England swung his legs over the edge of his bed, slowly and silently sneaking up to the bedroom door. Putting an ear up to the door, he could distinctly hear something that sounded like pots and pans clanging together, indicating that someone was indeed in his home. Gathering up his courage, he clenched his fists and threw open the door with as much force as he could muster.

"Aha!" he yelled as he jumped out of the room, eyes frantically searching for the intruder.

And then, suddenly, England's fists unclenched, his eyes widened, and he momentarily let go of every bit of dignity he had as he unleashed a high-pitched scream, all thoughts of the intruder wiped from his mind.

For England had just taken in the appearance of his house, and he did not like what he saw.

American flags lined the walls, all shapes and sizes and hung in such a way that England couldn't even see a trace of the walls underneath. Stars and stripes filled every nook and cranny of the house. Red, white, and blue balloons floated along the ceiling, streamers of the same colors strung across the various rooms and woven in between the railings of his staircase. Covering the floor was a large rectangular rug depicting the American flag. Every inch of England's house was filled with red, white and blue, with stars and stripes, and surely there was only one person on the planet who could be responsible for such a thing.

And, sure enough, there, standing in England's kitchen, was the very American who was behind the entire mess. He stood holding a large cake, which just so happened to be decorated with the same stars and stripes that filled the whole house.

"Mornin', Iggy!" America said cheerfully, thrusting the cake toward the shocked nation while sending him a bright grin. "Happy Flag Day!"

Then, taking in the appearance of the stunned Brit, America frowned and set down the cake.

"Hmm, you don't look like you're in the holiday spirit," he said. "But, never fear, for the hero is here! I'll fix that right up for ya!"

With that, the nation pulled out a large American-flag sticker from seemingly out of nowhere and slapped it on England's forehead.

"There!" America smiled proudly. "Much better."

At that point, the mere American-ness of the whole situation was just too much for the Englishman to handle, and he fainted on the spot.

Author's note:

Happy Flag Day, my fellow Americans! On June 14, 1776, Congress made a resolution that proclaimed the design of the very first American flag. Though the design was changed over the years, the first Flag Day observance was made 100 years later, and American flags were flown from public buildings all across the country. Then, in 1949, Congress formally declared June 14 as Flag Day, officially making it a national holiday.

Thanks for reading this chapter of This Day in History, and I hope you have a great rest of your day (or night)!

XOXO,

Cora