The snow melting was the best thing that had happened in months. The first day America saw grass, he ran out to the stables before breakfast. England had made him promise to be careful, since it was difficult to ride a horse when one was roughly the size of a cow. (He had really said that it could be dangerous if America fell, but why else would he fall? It had never happened to him before.) Of course, he broke that promise as quickly as possible. The moment he was sure that he was hidden by the trees, he gave Carrot a sharp jab to her flanks and they rode off at breakneck speed.
America threw his head back and breathed in the fresh air. It tasted so sweet after the way he'd been cooped up for the whole winter. The wind ran through his hair with even more affection than England's fingers. He felt the steady beat of his land coursing through him, as steady and personal as his breathing and heartbeat.
It was almost odd how spiritual the experience was. America closed his eyes and let go of Carrot's reins. Instead, he placed his hands on her neck. Even though she wasn't human, she was still part of him. Americans were Americans, and they were all his babies. What did number of legs matter? He steered her through their connection, gently pushing her simple mind to take them one way or another. It was rare that he used his abilities so fully, but it was a day for it. He was free and wild and hadn't felt so much like himself in years.
He allowed the feeling to expand further. No longer was it just Carrot's head, but down her spine, through her nerves, into her hooves, and then into the ground she steadily beat against. Suddenly, he was everywhere at once. Suddenly, he knew everything that was happening from Georgia to the farthest reaches of Massachusetts where the northern bits rubbed against Canada's land. In fact, he could feel his brother's softer presence like he was snuggling against him. Spain was to his south, bright and warm and energetic. But more important than all of that was the information that he suddenly could see, things he had known all along but hadn't bothered to look for. In New York a man named Peter Miller was bargaining for eggs because he was saving to buy his wife an anniversary present. In Charleston, Sally Hopkins was thinking about giving her virginity to Charlie White, who himself had already planned his proposal to her but at the moment was still asleep and dreaming about the dog he'd had as a boy. Somewhere in an unnamed part of the west a mouse that was about to starve to death found a farmer's grain storage. The baby he was carrying loved him.
That thought shocked him more than what he'd seen throughout his land. He slowed Carrot to a halt and pulled his awareness closer to block out everything else. He'd never been inside of an unborn baby's mind so closely before. It wasn't completely simple like an animal's, but it wasn't complex like an adult's or even a child's. It felt sort of hazy, like it was trying to be sentient but wasn't quite there yet. There were no words in her mind or even pictures, just sensations and flashes of light and dark, but in spite of that there were things that she just somehow knew.
Her World was small and she understood that. She knew that her World was inside of another person and there was a bigger place outside of that. She didn't know who America was, but she knew he was the only thing that mattered. He gave her food through the cord coming from her belly, he gave her air even though she couldn't breathe, whenever he was happy she would be too, and he and the Other One (England, presumably) were the only ones that paid attention to her. She listened to their voices, felt them pressing gently against her world's edge. She didn't know what seeing quite was, but she wanted to actually see them, not just blurry silhouettes.
A Year of Surprises [10a/12]
March
The snow melting was the best thing that had happened in months. The first day America saw grass, he ran out to the stables before breakfast. England had made him promise to be careful, since it was difficult to ride a horse when one was roughly the size of a cow. (He had really said that it could be dangerous if America fell, but why else would he fall? It had never happened to him before.) Of course, he broke that promise as quickly as possible. The moment he was sure that he was hidden by the trees, he gave Carrot a sharp jab to her flanks and they rode off at breakneck speed.
America threw his head back and breathed in the fresh air. It tasted so sweet after the way he'd been cooped up for the whole winter. The wind ran through his hair with even more affection than England's fingers. He felt the steady beat of his land coursing through him, as steady and personal as his breathing and heartbeat.
It was almost odd how spiritual the experience was. America closed his eyes and let go of Carrot's reins. Instead, he placed his hands on her neck. Even though she wasn't human, she was still part of him. Americans were Americans, and they were all his babies. What did number of legs matter? He steered her through their connection, gently pushing her simple mind to take them one way or another. It was rare that he used his abilities so fully, but it was a day for it. He was free and wild and hadn't felt so much like himself in years.
He allowed the feeling to expand further. No longer was it just Carrot's head, but down her spine, through her nerves, into her hooves, and then into the ground she steadily beat against. Suddenly, he was everywhere at once. Suddenly, he knew everything that was happening from Georgia to the farthest reaches of Massachusetts where the northern bits rubbed against Canada's land. In fact, he could feel his brother's softer presence like he was snuggling against him. Spain was to his south, bright and warm and energetic. But more important than all of that was the information that he suddenly could see, things he had known all along but hadn't bothered to look for. In New York a man named Peter Miller was bargaining for eggs because he was saving to buy his wife an anniversary present. In Charleston, Sally Hopkins was thinking about giving her virginity to Charlie White, who himself had already planned his proposal to her but at the moment was still asleep and dreaming about the dog he'd had as a boy. Somewhere in an unnamed part of the west a mouse that was about to starve to death found a farmer's grain storage. The baby he was carrying loved him.
That thought shocked him more than what he'd seen throughout his land. He slowed Carrot to a halt and pulled his awareness closer to block out everything else. He'd never been inside of an unborn baby's mind so closely before. It wasn't completely simple like an animal's, but it wasn't complex like an adult's or even a child's. It felt sort of hazy, like it was trying to be sentient but wasn't quite there yet. There were no words in her mind or even pictures, just sensations and flashes of light and dark, but in spite of that there were things that she just somehow knew.
Her World was small and she understood that. She knew that her World was inside of another person and there was a bigger place outside of that. She didn't know who America was, but she knew he was the only thing that mattered. He gave her food through the cord coming from her belly, he gave her air even though she couldn't breathe, whenever he was happy she would be too, and he and the Other One (England, presumably) were the only ones that paid attention to her. She listened to their voices, felt them pressing gently against her world's edge. She didn't know what seeing quite was, but she wanted to actually see them, not just blurry silhouettes.