"I hear you creeping around. I am fully aware of your presence!" I state confidently. The sound around me freezes and I know my words has startled them.
I turn to face where they stand despite I cannot see them. My eyes are clothed with a silky smooth blindfold since my eyes are of no good use to me. I am blind.
"Do not find me vulnerable because of my current state, my excellent ears make up for it all. I can even hear your heartbeat." I say.
I am still greeted with silence. It begins to irritate me so I speak up again. "State your business here!"
I hear them creep to the other side of the room choosing to remain distant from me. I twirl my body on the small stool I sit upon to constantly face them, making sure they are aware I know where they are at all times.
I do not enjoy the silent treatment. It once again irritates me. I rise up from my stool and decide to pick a fight. "Why will you not answer me?!" I shout in question.
I then hear them pound their foot onto the ground three times in a row. There is a slight pause before they proceed to do it again.
I am confused at first until I realize it is Morse Code. I listen carefully for awhile as they communicate to me with their foot.
They spell out the word "mute".
"You are a mute?" I ask.
I hear them excitedly clap their hands from afar. I assume that means I am correct.
"In that case, I apologize for acting so hostile to you. Do you got a name stranger?"
They begin to stomp their foot quickly. I can tell they are excited.
"Woah woah not too fast please!" I plead. "I need a second to process the letters."
They understand and stop immediately. They start again from the top but move more slow paced. I nod my head in approval.
I begin to gather the letters I am given; "R", "U", "S", "S", "I", and finally "A".
I wait a few seconds before speaking to be sure they are finished. When I am certain they are done, I speak. "Your name is...Russia?"
They excitedly clap once again and I know I am right. A small smile tugs at my lips. "Nice to meet you Russia, I am America."
Russia claps some more and I let out a loose chuckle. I can hear Russia's little heartbeat flutter, it is a sound like no other. It is nice to finally hear a beating pulse. However, it made me start to wonder what he was doing here in the first place.
I was confined to a spacious square room. There is nothing in it other than my stool. I do not know what color it is but I like to pretend it is blue. Strange that I even know what that color is.
I wonder some more; there is neither a door nor window in my room so how did Russia manage to get in here?
"Russia?" I start to ask. "How did you get in here?"
It was quiet for a moment as if he were thinking. Russia then began to tap out an answer with his foot.
"Unsure." he said.
"Well, how did you find this place?" I press.
He taps his foot some more.
"String." he replies.
His brief answers only made me spiral into confusion. It made me wish he could speak. "What the hell are you talking about?!" I spat.
I hear him move closer to me. His heartbeat seemed to have calmed down. I soon feel his presence directly in front of me. I tilt my head, unsure of what he is doing. He places his hand on my blindfold and I grab his hand instantly.
"What are you doing?! It is forbidden to take it off!"
He taps his foot softly. "Why?" he asks.
I think for a moment. "I...I do not know..." Why was that engraved in my mind? I loosen the grip I have on his hand and allow him to remove my blindfold. When he takes it off, I am blinded by brightness. My eyes widened.
I can see. For the first time in my life, I can see.
I let out a sharp gasp and look around at everything. I see my large square room. It is sadly not blue, it is gray.
I avert my gaze onto Russia and study him. He is taller than I am for sure. He has short shiny light hair that looks like it was spun out of the finest silk and thick eyebrows. His facial features are defined such as his jawline, but his eyes were soft and lavender colored. He is a handsome fellow. I stare into his eyes and I am greeted with my own reflection. I study myself and come to the conclusion that I am a handsome fellow as well. My hair resembled Russia's except it was more fluffy and a bit more messy. I had much softer features but bigger eyes. One of my eyes seemed to be an electric blue and my other eye seemed to be a ruby red. I smile and see my pearly white teeth in his eyes. I liked my smile.
"How is this even possible?" I ask with astonishment.
"These blindfolds prevent us from everything." Russia said confidently in a strange accent.
I narrow my eyebrows at him. "I thought you were a mute!"
Russia holds up another blindfold in defense. It is soft faded red and has a black "X" on it. "I am!" he says, "This was over my mouth, I had removed it when I removed yours. Like how you are able to see, I am able to speak." I nod slowly to show that I comprehend. He hands me back my blindfold. Mine was a dull purple with two "X"s on it. My mind is flooded with concerns as I stare down at it.
"It is so great to finally be able to speak! You have no idea how time consuming it is to stomp my foot in Morse Code."
I chuckle at his response. "How do you think I feel? Never in a million years would I have thought that I would be able to see. It feels like a dream!"
"That is because it is..." Russia said defeatedly.
"Please do not scare me like that." I pleaded.
"I am sorry America I do not mean to frighten you, allow me to explain..." I slightly lean in giving him my full undivided attention. If he has answers, I want them.
"Look around this room and tell me what is wrong with it." Russia said.
I thought for a moment to understand what he was implying. "There is neither a damn door nor window in it." I say.
"Exactly." Russia replied, happy that I caught on. Although, I came across that conclusion a few moments ago.
"Earlier I recall you saying you found this place from a string. Can you explain that?" I ask.
"I am unsure of where to begin but I have strange dreams where I am in a maze and my only hope of getting out is following this golden string. It has been like this for awhile. No matter when I decide to sleep, I always pick back up in the last place I left off. But I think I have finally completed the maze because it led me directly to you."
"That is completely bizarre. I do not have dreams like that- actually come to think of it, I do not dream at all!" I gasp at my sudden realization. "I have been sitting on my stool waiting and pondering for the longest time!"
Russia looked at me with worry. "If you have been awake this entire time and I have been asleep... how are we even meeting each other?"
"I have no idea." I said cluelessly. "Are you certain that you are dreaming? What is it like when you are awake?"
"I am unsure... I do not have a single memory of me being awake."
I pucker my lips together with my eyebrows narrowed. He thinks he is sleeping right now- but he can not be sleeping since I am awake. I am desperate for an answer. I reach my arm over to Russia's cheek and I pinch it as hard as I can.
"Ow!" he hisses as he pulls back and cradles his throbbing cheek in his palm. He looks at me as if he were betrayed. "What the fuck was that for?!" he snaps. His tone makes him sound like he was holding himself back from killing me.
"A test. I can now conclude you are in fact awake. If you had been sleeping, that would not have hurt you."
"What kind of logic is that?!" he says with his raspy voice.
I simply shrug. I do not know how I know, I just do. It did seem like strange logic come to think of it... but at the same time it seems pretty self explanatory. I choose to elaborate anyways. "It looks like to me the reason you always pick back up in the last place you left off in your dreams is simply because you are not dreaming, you are in fact wide awake. Like me, you can not remember your dreams either. And if this really were a dream, you would not be able to feel pain."
He stares at me while still holding his cheek. His face consists of disbelief and he frowns like a sad little puppy. I want to think it is my conclusion that disappoints him but I know that is not the reason he is upset. He is still stunned from when I pinched him. I regret doing that so unexpectedly. I should not have pinched him so hard.
"I am sorry Russia." I place my hand on top of his hand that held his pinched cheek. "I did not mean to hurt you. I had to determine whether or not you were dreaming."
He slaps my hand away and does not accept my apology.
Him not accepting my apology hurts. It made me feel even more bad, I was not exactly sure how I had ended up here, but the only person I have ever interacted with was mad at me.
"Fine." I say. I tuck my hands into my arms crossing them and I back away. I make my way to my stool and plop down. I shut my eyes and continue to do what I have always done; ponder. Russia watches me with confusion. "What are you doing?" he asks. His hardened tone from before sounded like it was thawing.
"Pondering." I say.
"About what?" I ignore his question not out of spite but because I did not know how to answer it. Russia has too much integrity. I continue to ponder.
I hear Russia gasp and his heartbeat starts to flutter once again. My eyes spring open immediately to see what is the matter. I do not see anything out of the ordinary. "What is wrong?" I ask him.
He points his finger as if he were outlining something. "The golden string! I see it, it had returned! I guess this is not the final destination."
"I am afraid I do not see anything." I tell him.
Russia keeps walking and points to the solid gray wall. "I have to go in this direction."
"Buddy, that is a dead end." I say feeling slightly annoyed I had to state the obvious.
"No you do not understand. I can go anywhere as long as I follow the golden string."
"Prove it then." I say. Not to my surprise, Russia tries walking into the wall and fails. I can not help but to snicker at his failed attempt. "See? You can not walk through walls." Russia stares at the wall baffled. He then traces his eyes up and sets his gaze upon me.
"What?" I ask.
"The golden string moved. It is surrounding you. I think it wants me to take you with me."
"Take me where? Through the wall?! That is not possible!" I mock.
"America, I got into this room somehow. I would not doubt it." Russia reminds. I think for a moment and realize he has a point. I sigh in defeat. "Fine." As I make my way over to him, I soon halt and scream in horror. My blindfold has a mind of its own and breaks lose from my hand and aggressively crawls up my arm.
I try prying it off but it does not budge. It feels as if it were sinking razor sharp teeth into me.
Russia rushes over and tries to help me but his blindfold comes to life as well. It sores up into the air and harshly wraps itself around Russia's mouth. He screams trying to pull it off. I hear his scream slowly fade in and he can no longer make a sound. I see fear in his watery eyes for a split second before I am engulfed with complete darkness.
I am blind again and Russia is mute again.
I continue to breathe heavily and try to stabilize my breath. When I do, I speak my words laced with fear. "Russia? What just happened?" I know he is still there because I can hear his heart beating rapidly and I hear his small salty tears spill onto the floor. I was longing to hear his voice again but I knew I would not.
I hesitantly touch my blindfold but it no longer felt silky smooth, it had hardened like a clay. "Russia you were right. These blindfolds do prevent us from everything..." I hear saddened faint claps from him. He clearly agreed.
Something in my gut told me that continuing to stay in this gray square room will never let me be able to see again. I did not want to stay here any longer. I want more than this. How will I know what lies ahead if I do not choose to go? There has to be a reason Russia is the first and only person to pass through here.
"I am not certain of how I ended up here or how long I have been stuck here, but after you have removed my blindfold and showed me the world for the very first time, I want nothing more than to be able to see it again." I can hear his heartbeat calm down. "And if that means walking into walls with you and following a golden string I can not see then so be it."
I extended my arm out to him. "Russia, be my eyes and I will be your voice."
Without hesitation I feel him take my hand.
His hand was warm and much larger than mine. I have never felt such warmth before, this entire room only contained cool air and chilled walls. Russia starts to lead me to the wall. "Do you still see the golden string?" I ask.
Russia then pats my forearm. I know that must be his way of nodding.
"Are you tactile signing to me?" I ask to make sure. He gently sets my hand on top of his and I feel him move his fist up and down. That means yes.
We can now communicate through touch and feeling. Come to think of it, I am uncertain of how I perfectly understand Morse Code and tactile signing. I have no memory of learning it. I was thankful I could understand it though, otherwise I would not be able to communicate with Russia.
He must have warmed up to me already since he feels comfortable enough to touch me now. He went from tapping his foot in Morse Code to touching my hand and arms in such a short interval of time. With the communication barrier solved and some more given time, I feel this relationship can go far.
We needed each other if we are going to find answers and remove our blindfolds.
I smile at Russia. "Let the adventure begin then!" I say confidently.
Russia places separated fingers on my arm and moves each of them back and forth, almost as if he is softly scratching me. That means he is laughing.
He stops and with my hand in his, he proceeds to lead me forwards.