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Prologue

Celebrations run rampant throughout the United Kingdom as the news of Brexit is announced. Shouts of "Britannia rules the waves!" and "Britain is free!" echo from stuffed pub after stuffed pub as those inside drink themselves into a stupor; stripped of their logic by their joy and their abundant compatriots. Music spills from tavern after tavern, light escaping onto the road well into the wee hours of the night.

Further along the road, children run in their yards, waving toy flags of the United Kingdom or of Great Britain, unsure what all the excitement is about but happy that their parents are so excited. A child's shoe catches on her flag and she falls, crying on the ground for a moment before her father picks her up and shushes her. She hiccups and frowns, then sees the toy flag and squirms, demanding to be let down. Her father sets her down, laughing lightly as his "little general" marches off  with her flag in pursuit of a brightly-colored butterfly nearby.

In a university dorm room, a distraught university student sobs on his bunk, keenly aware that he can no longer afford to visit his family in Holland this month. His roommate places an arm around him, tears streaming down their faces in tandem, because his roomate is studying to be a diplomat in the European Union. They sob late into the night, shaking and heaving until they fall asleep on the tear-stained bed in exhaustion.

In a Scottish pub, an old woman starts to wonder if remaining a part of the United Kingdom is worth what she has given up, aware that her five year old granddaughter has just lost the right to live and work in twenty-seven other countries. The old woman stares sadly  into the bottom of her mug, then pours the rest down her throat and leaves the empty pub.

A Muslim mother stares at her British-born children, wondering will become of them as her neighbors dance with joy next door. A dance beat pulses through the wall, stirring her young son, who rolls over and does not wake. His mother sits next to him and his twin brother, praying silently to Allah.

An old man sleeps peacefully in his retirement home, secure in the knowledge that his nation now has its sovereignty. His journal lays open on his nightstand, its contents proudly proclaiming "Today, the United Kingdom is truly united! We have left the European Union, the United States of Europe, and though the pound may weaken--" The writing is no longer legible, crossed out vigorously and crisscrossed with a blue ballpoint pen. The old man snores happily, his greying hair a testament to his length of life. His lifestyle is secure.