October 10, 1914
San Carlos Hotel
Miami, United States
It was raining—thunderstorming, actually—and I couldn't sleep. Traveling across the country always had that effect on me. My latest habit was perched between my fingers, its smoke curling through the stale air of my hotel room. A radio sat nearby as I languished in an armchair.
The music was suddenly interrupted by a news segment.
"Good evening, Miami, and thank you for tuning in to your local broadcast station. It's been three months since the assassination of Austrian Archduke Ferdinand, and war is on the rise in Europe. The German Empire has invaded Belgium. Austria-Hungary has invaded Serbia. Just one day after the French Republic declared war on the aggressors, Great Britain did the same. Together with the Russian Empire, they form the Triple Entente—"
I turned the dial off. The unanswered letters and telegrams in my office were enough of a reminder of the war.
Nothing in my lifetime had pushed the French into the arms of the British. No war had escalated so rapidly and so broadly. Nonetheless, the American people were set in their indifference. The very concept of going to war in Europe flew in the face of every ideal that Americans held dear.
I closed my eyes and took another drag of my cigarette, focusing only on the burning sensation in my lungs.
YOU ARE READING
Spirit of the Nation ★ Female America
Historical Fiction''I shall never be as powerful as the likes of you.'' France gave a reproachful hum. ''𝘈𝘮𝑒́𝘳𝘪𝘲𝘶𝘦, you are but thirty years old. I am well over eight hundred. 𝘗𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘴𝘦...almost three hundred.'' My eyes drifted downward, where Prussia's ar...
