As the Seasons Change

One Tree Down, Ninety-Nine to Go

When a tree falls in the middle of a large expanse of forest, and not a single soul is there to witness it, is there a sound? Or was the notion, was it all really a trick on the human race, that is was a hallucination conjured up by the mind to believe that we may somehow hope to comprehend the strange phenomenons of the known world?

That is not known. It remains a mystery as long as humans inhabit this Earth. That is to their absolute knowledge. However, what if one isn't entirely human? In which the scenario happens to be that they are immortal, to be brief, living forever. What then? In that case, it is no longer just hearing the sound of the fallen tree anymore. It is instead the sense, it is the presence of the tree falling in their, say, forever life.

In other words, a Nation.

To them the few seconds that it takes for that tree to fall is just like a mere drop in a bucket to them, like a penny to a rich man, it is gone in an instant, it is impossible to find again. Be that as it may, if a whole forest, hundreds of thousands of trees, were to suddenly fall, too, a nation would be brought to their knees, just as a rich man would if he lost hundreds of thousands of dollars.

It wasn't a forest that fell one summer day, but rather, the world was unknowingly brought to its knees in one fell swoop. Yet there were still nations unbeknownst to the terror about to befall them. It was late August, the hottest of any summer in years had just occurred in most parts of the world, leaving quite a few nations groggy, tired, and far past done with the heatwaves. Even in the northernmost parts of any continent, it was somehow warmer than normal. Wildfires, humanely caused, lightning caused, or the like, had been breaking out everywhere. The more, well, dense and obnoxious countries complained to their friends, and neighbors, as if they could do anything about it.

This included the Kingdom of Denmark. The heat had been driving him absolutely nuts, he was, after all, a nation built more for the cold. He finally got so sick and tired of it he decided to go dial the number of his good friend Norway, surely he knew what to do, right?

The Dane dashed from his bedroom, to the hallway, down the stairs, and to the phone on a tall table, taking it out of its holder. No, Denmark just wasn't up to the times, as surprising as it was, and didn't even own one of those flip-phones, nevertheless an actual cellphone. Iceland tended to tease him about that, but Denmark's argument was that he didn't need a cellphone in the 19th Century, so he didn't need it now either, which always seemed to earn him a smack on the head. Denmark pressed the 'Talk' button on the phone, and a beep sound came from it, indicating that it was awaiting for the desired number to be punched in. However, the Dane suddenly drew a blank. What was Norway's phone number again? He hadn't seen the Norseman in about three months, and he never bothered to write it down, as he thought he knew it by heart.

Maybe he should ask someone about it, but who to ask? Just then he thought of someone, and that someone just so happened to be laying down on a green coloured couch in Denmark's living room. The Republic of Iceland. The Icelander had come into Copenhagen earlier in the week, complaining about the heat affecting him and his country, and that he needed to take a break, claiming the closest nation to him was Denmark (which wasn't true, but Denmark took what he could get). Of course the Dane welcomed his ex-colony with open arms, they weren't as close as they used to be, but they were still good friends, and Denmark treated his friends nicely, of course, even if Iceland acted like a rebellious teenager and honestly scared the shit out of Denmark sometimes.

Iceland was laying on his back, his hands poised behind his head in a relaxed position, as there was an oscillating fan blowing by him. His violet eyes were shut, but he didn't appear to be asleep, Denmark observed as he peeked his head around the doorway to the living room for a brief moment, before actually entering the room.