America's P.O.V
I jolted up. My heart raced, and my body was shaking from the dream. No, a nightmare. My chest ached from how fast my heart was pounding. I took gulp after gulp of air, trying to calm my pounding heart down.
Eventually, my breathing steadied and I stopped trembling, the throbbing in my chest stalled as I just sat there. I subconsciously brought my legs closer to my chest, as I furrowed my brow.
My mind kept running circles around me, as I tried to remember the thing. However, no matter how much effort I put into recalling the dream, I was unsuccessful.
I laid my head back on my pillow in hopes of getting a few more hours of sleep. However, the world was against me, for whenever I got close to the realm of rest, my eyes jutted open and I was forced to start all over again.
I decided that it was pointless to waste all this time for an unachievable goal, so I flung my legs over the bed and got up.
I looked at the clock on my bedside table, it read three forty-nine am. It was really early, too early in fact. I set out on gathering my clothes for the day. Opening my closet, I was standing face-to-face with sparse comfy clothing and a lot of t-shirts. I decided to throw on a plain black long-sleeved shirt. Besides, it's not like my states will care about my taste in clothing. To go with it, I grabbed some dark sweatpants and some socks.
Once I had them all stuffed into my arms, I headed towards the bathroom.
Fridged water ran down my back, as I ran my hands through my hair. I relished in the fresh feeling that it brought me. My brain had awakened more, and the dream soon vanished from my mind.
I walked out of my bathroom, feeling alive from the shower.
I measured my options, I could either go downstairs and make an early breakfast for the states, or I could write another entry, but I wrote one yesterday, and I had nothing to make it about. That being the case, I decided to go with my first option, since I wouldn't be here to make them a meal tomorrow due to the meeting.
I grabbed the doorknob, turned it, and opened the door. Walking downstairs, I started to hear voices, two voices to be exact, and I wondered who could be up this early in the morning. I also heard some music, it was faint, but it was there nonetheless.
I trotted into the open living room, in hopes of seeing who was up. Luckily, the two states were sitting on the couch, staring at the flat-screen TV.
"Good morning Maine, New Hampshire."
They both turned their heads, slightly in shock of being discovered.
"Hi, dad. How's it going?" Maine asked her sweet self showing.
"I'm alright, just tired, but I can't fall asleep." New Hampshire paused the show that they were watching. "How did you two sleep?"
The girls glanced at each other with a bashful smile that hid their true feelings, "Well, you see..."
"We didn't sleep." Maine finished. I sighed as I shook my head, they always did this, even if I got tried to make them go to bed.
"And why couldn't you go to sleep?" She inquired, looking over the couch at me. It was an attempt to distract me from their behavior.
I moved towards their side of the couch, sitting down on New Hampshire's right. "Just a bad dream, it isn't anything that you should worry about. What about you girls, what are you up this early, again?" I brushed off.
"The sun rises in the East, and this is the only time where we can see our favorite show. Now, what kind of dream did you have?" Maine pushed. I suddenly began feeling incredibly uncomfortable.
"I don't really remember, " They both made understanding faces. Though, I could see the tiniest bit of skepticism hidden behind their eyes.
"Really? It must've been bad then for you to have forgotten it." New Hampshire raised one of her eyebrows.
I nodded, "Yeah, well, or it was so utterly forgettable, that it's been wiped from my brain." I told them, but then I recalled a feeling that I had felt after I woke up.
"After the dream ended, I felt this strange urge to make sure that I was still there." I was trying to convey what I had been feeling, by squeezing my wrist. "It was as if I wasn't there in the nightmare, and I had to make sure the same fate didn't actually happen. You know?"
"Uh, no, not really. Do you think that you will be able to get some rest later today?" New Hampshire asked, care lacing her words.
"Yeah, I've kinda completely forgotten about it. Anyways, since I'm not gonna be here tomorrow, I wanted to make breakfast for you all." They both grinned.
"I would like that," Maine added, her comment made me smile.
"Well, what are your orders?" I questioned in my most waiter-like tone. This made them chuckle.
"Can I have the America special?" New Hampshire smiled. I nodded.
"And for you Miss Maine?"
"The same thing, can I also get an orange juice?" Maine implored.
"Sure, fifty-two American breakfasts coming up!" I recorded, for I needed to make one for myself, plus's DC.
"Dad, do you need help?" New Hampshire asked. "I don't want you to do all that work while you didn't get enough sleep..." I put my hand on her shoulder.
"Trust me, I got this. And you're one to talk." I retorted in a soft manner.
"Okay, I trust you. You're America! You can do anything." I put on a big smile and walked to the kitchen.
I pulled out the ingredients for the pancakes, eggs, and bacon. I decided to make the pancakes first since I wanted to let the batter sit. I poured all of the dry ingredients into a bowl and the wet ones into a separate one. Then I combined both bowls, creating the base.
"Mmm, what smells good?" I looked up to see Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut walk into the kitchen, Rhode Island complementing whatever smelled good.
"That's breakfast," I responded, their heads snapped towards me. They seemed surprised that I was up this early.
"Hey, dad. You making breakfast?" Vermont tilted his head and I nodded. "Cool! Oh, New Hampshire, whatcha watching?" The rest of their mini-group bolted to the couch to watch whatever thing was put on the TV.
Next came the bacon. I fired up a pan, while I laid the meat on it. A sizzling sound filled the room for a bit, until it calmed down after a while.
"Oh, hello. What are you making?" New York asked as he strolled in with Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, and Maryland, along with DC.
"An American breakfast, how do you want your eggs?"
"Scrambled, if you don't mind." He retreated to one of the tables and pulled out some sort of game. "Who's up for a game of life?" The multiple stomps of feet rang through the room.
I then pulled out my flat pan to get the most bacon fried in an as little amount of time as possible, since the one I used before was way too small. I fired it up and laid the first pieces of bacon on it.
"Is that bacon I smell?" Georgia asked, coming in with West Virginia, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Florida.
"That indeed it is, why don't you go find something to do for a while."
"Whoever gets to the Nintendo switch fist gets to choose what game we play!" North Carolina shouted. There were multiple "your on"s coveted by several states.
"Take your places, three, two, one; go!" I yelled, causing each of them to sprint towards the charging system. "And no mosh pitting in the house." I chuckled.
Once I finally finished the bacon, I moved on cracking eggs. Lots and lots of eggs.
"Illinois! Give me back my fuzzy blanket!" Minnesota screamed, chasing his brother down the stairs.
"Never!" Illinois replied, running to the couch for protection. He was followed by an angered Minnesota, a confused Wisconsin, an invested Michigan, a bored Indiana, a tired Ohio, and a hungry Iowa.
"Illinois, give your brother his fuzzy blanket back," I ordered, gaining a grumble of disappointment and a cheer of thanks.
I resumed cracking my eggs. After that, I added some milk, stirred, and started work on the scrambled eggs.
Everyone else slowly flooded into the room as I finished with the eggs and started the pancakes. I asked for Arizona to grab the plates, for Colorado to grab the silverware, and for Montana to grab the toppings.
Soon we were all at the table with our breakfast in hand. The random conversation was popping up all over the place. Some were about the game of life, Mario Kart, or the TV show that had half of the states hooked. I was sitting next to Nebraska, talking about nothing in particular.
Then a topic of interest came up.
"So, dad." I glanced over at the speaker, Nevada. "You like anyone?" I choked on my coffee and almost spit it out. Me, liking anyone? No. Just no. Not since me and Mexico's relationship went up in a burning pile of garbage.
Unfortunately for me, the other states decided that I was seeing someone before I could form a rebuttal.
"Who is it?"
"Is it Japan?"
"What's her name?"
"Why haven't you told us about her?"
"Could we meet her?"
Even Hawaii joined in, "Is she gonna be my mommy?"
By now, I'm sure you couldn't even tell my face was striped. My cheeks felt incredibly hot as the bombardment of questions just kept coming.
"Guys, we don't even know if he's dating a girl." California analyzed, I was about to thank him, but he added something that made the situation worse. "He could be into guys." This gained even more traction and I covered my face with my hands.
Then it got quiet, really quiet. They were expecting me to respond.
I lifted my head up from out of my hands and cleared my throat. "Um..." The words that I had planned to say melted in my mouth at the onslaught of their attentive gazes. "...I'm n-not seeing anyone now." Texas looked like he was going to flip the table.
"So you're telling all of us that you've been single for ever since you and Mexico hit a fork in the road?!" Kansas pieced together, I nodded.
All their jaws dropped.
What did you do wrong this time, America?
"Have you ever felt love since then?" Delaware asked me.
"Of course I have! I have all of you guys that love me." She shook her head.
"No, I mean from someone that isn't related to you. Like another girlfriend." I looked away, I knew I hadn't, but I didn't want them worrying about my love life.
"No, but can we forget this topic ever came up? I have all the love that I need right here." They looked at me skeptically, but slowly, their conversations reared away from a false truth and morphed back into separate conversations.
However, nothing quite passes without a lick of thought, and this was no outlier. I kept on wondering throughout the day if I needed to experience that type of love.
Oh sure, I've had little flings, my first kiss, and even did the tango with Mexico a few times. But none of these truly felt like they held a spark, and ignition, a burning passion. I kinda felt used in those relationships, which I know is never a good thing.
They also never ended well for neither me, nor the other person.
There was a sense of worry that edged itself into my heart, making the rest of the day seem gloomy compared to breakfast.
I didn't feel like I needed it until now, but I was suddenly feeling very lonely.
Word count 2030
-Amaura