Swapped Around

Eighteen~ The zoo

The same carriage that we rode in from the boat to daddy's house clattered along the road. I sit kind of squished in between Daddy and Frog; Canada sat on the other side of him, so I couldn't see out of any of the windows. Daddy has bags under his eyes and it looks like someone punched him.

I feel like I've just eaten something very sweet because I feel all jumpy and excited. I can't believe we're actually going to the zoo! We've been cooped up for too long in the house, although I must say its a lot nicer than what we have back at home-home. I'd rather live in a mansion with France than a mud hut with no one. Although since we started living with America they told me that my country was already starting to develop, so maybe if I go back soon then I'll have mansions there too!

"Are we nearly there yet?" I whine, tugging on America's sleeve. He yawns slightly and grins.

"Sorry dude, not quite." He ruffles my hair like he does sometimes. It's nice but my hair has trouble staying in place anyway so it's kind of annoying. I don't want to have hair like France's though, it's far too silky and girly. I tried to grow it once and I looked like a dead caterpillar.

We sit in silence for a bit more. I can hear the birds twittering in the trees. France sits like someone posing for a portrait, with his legs crossed and his chin resting on his hand, looking dreamily out of the small window. He hardly looks attractive though because his hand squishes the bottom of his face into a weird double chin and his legs are still too short to cross properly.

"Pretty girl~" I taunt, unable to keep the silence any longer. He shoots me a glare from an angle so that the other two cant see it.

"I'd like to see you look better, eyebrows." He grumbles, awkwardly uncrossing his legs and sitting normally. I scowl, automatically putting my hands up to my eyebrows to protect them from his meanness.

"Challenge accepted!" I cry happily, shoving him into the carriage wall- oh, I mean, shoving him into Canada's arm. He looks down curiously and we smile innocently up. "When America and Canada go to the meeting, we'll have a competition." I grin evilly. France gives me an agreeing smirk, and before we can continue, the carriage rolls to a stop.

We bundle out of the thin, creaky doors and onto a concrete surface. Tall buildings line the street with bricked up windows and painted eaves above them. We look out at the zoo- a tall, twisty pair of black iron gates with the words 'Zoological Center for Foregin and Endangered Animals' Written in curly gold script across the top. Through them, solemn families wander about, peering over brick walls and walking around hurriedly in the grey light. I feel my face fall in disappointment, and I tug on daddy's sleeve.

"Where are the animals?" I ask.

"They're in there, look?" He points through the bars. "Behind those little walls, there are pits in the ground where they keep the animals."

"What about those big hand trees, and the-"

"Palm trees, dude. They can't grow them here because it's the wrong sort of weather."

"Why do the animals live here if they don't have the right plants then?" I continue. If I was something like a lion and I had to live here I would just go home. I like lions.

"The animals don't choose to live here. The poachers in Africa take them to show to people, but some of them were born here because their parents lived here."

"Doesn't it get overcrowded if animals keep getting born or taken in? Do they send the old ones home?"

"No, sweetie, the old ones die and they get buried in a special animal graveyard." I feel a little drop in my stomach. "But don't worry! When they die they can live happily forver in the jungles or plains where they're supposed to live, and that's better, isn't it?"

"I thought animals were like us..." I mumble, looking down at the floor. Canada has bought us tickets and is beckoning us over. I can practically feel the look of guilty pity that's on America's face.

"No, Iggy. Animals live and die like the humans. We're the only ones like us. We're special, see?" He lifts me up into his shoulders without another word and follows the others through the gate. I can feel him shaking, and he's making a sad little sniffly noise so I pat him on the head so that he feels better.

"Will there be no more lions when I'm older then?"

"No, there will always be lions unless we kill them. Now let's hurry up; Mattie's waiting for us."

He shuffles over to France and Canada, and we quickly get through the spiky iron gates. Canada makes a strange face which I think is directed at me until he puts his arm around America's back and he stops making the sniffly noise. France is running ahead, skipping over to a concrete wall with a lot of people crowding around and staying on his tiptoes to see over it and into the enclosure.

America brings me over and points down. Behind the wall there is a deep hole in the ground and in it are two fluffy black creatures rambling around, pouncing on each other and play fighting in a way uncannily similar to me and France. The crowd qround the edge egg them on and laugh, waving their hands or bit of food tauntingly over the edge.

"They're bears, aren't they?" I ask, being lifted down from his shoulders so I can peer over the wall down at them.

"Yup. Black bears." America replies.

"Why are people teasing them?"

"It's fun for them. In time Iggy, you'll come to the realisation that-"

I kick him irritably in the shins, interrupting him. "It's England! Not Iggy!"

"Dude, I was trying to give you a deep and meaningful speech! Give me a chance!"

Seeming to appear out of nowhere, Canada gives us a smile. "Lighten up you two! Hey, how about we get something to eat. There's a zoo gift shop somewhere here."

"I wanna look at the bears though!" I whine.

"I wanna look at zhe bears more zhan him!" France whines louder. "And I want to look at zhe tigers and lions too!"

"No fair, lions are my favourite animals!" Our argument continues from pointless bickering to flailing our arms around at each other. I notice other families eyeing us with small smiles. It somehow makes me feel happy, that other humans think I'm normal. As we head over to the food stalls eventually, I grab America's hand, swinging our arms back and forth.

"If we do enough normal things, will we turn back into humans?" I ask him. He doesn't reply, but he makes that weird sniffly noise again.

Sooooo sorry that I didn't update in a while! I would say that I was busy and stressed and had writers block but to be honest I was just procrastinating. So sorry if it's a wee bit crappy, but here's an update.