Book 1 - Puppets

XXI - Hearing Voices

The six personifications sit quietly for a few moments before the states begin conversations amongst themselves. Texas and Louisiana talk and laugh loudly, and Massachusetts occasionally throws in his commentary.

Russia is finally able to relax if only slightly, surrounded by allies. Luckily for his group, most of the rips were easily fixed without any additional fabric, so Ute makes quick work of mending their bags and ripped clothes.

Once Ute patches a good amount of the ripped clothes, Russia and Canada take a few handfuls of dirty garments down to a nearby creek to clean off the dust, pine needles, and mud that got through the bags. The stream is within the site of anyone in the campsite, so they felt safe enough to go without the states being put in danger.

They pile the dirty laundry together on the streamside, and Russia pulls out one of Massachusetts' shirts from the pile and dunks it into the stream of cold water. He is a little surprised at the water's temperature, but he isn't bothered by the chill that envelopes his hands. He plucks any pine needles he can see out of the fabric before rubbing the cloth together to scrub off any extra debris.

It takes a few tries before the article began to look clean. Russia pulls it up and rings out any extra water before he hung it up on a nearby tree branch to dry. He continues to clean more clothes the best as he can, occasionally returning to the campsite to retrieve more items.

Once most of the clothes are thoroughly rinsed out, Canada tells Russia to return to the campsite with some of the drier items to hang somewhere else to make more room for the remaining articles. Russia agrees and begins extracting pieces of clothing off the trees, brushing off any needles stuck to the fabric. His hands fill quickly, and he wishes Canada Farwell. Canada waves him off without turning away from the creek.

Russia hums a familiar tune while walking the short distance back to the camp, and he notices that Ute and Massachusetts have left the tents. Louisiana is sitting on a branch high in one of the trees, and Texas is leaning against the trunk of another nearby evergreen.

"Where did the others go?" He asks the remaining states.

"Massy thought that we was still missin' some stuff, so he went with Ute to look around," Texas answers.

"You want some help with that?" Louisiana asks from her perch.

"Yes, please," Russia replies.

Louisiana hops down from her position and falls a short distance before hitting the ground, her clothes fluttering out around her. She walks over and takes around half of the clothes, helping Russia lay them out in sunny areas around the campground. They also take turns changing into some dryer items and folding the spare clothes for Ute.

Russia thanks her for her help. He notices Texas perk up. He looks over curiously, but before he can ask, Texas swiftly stands from the tree and begins scanning their surroundings with narrowed eyes.

Some nearby movement causes Russia to turn, and he sees Canada approaching, arms full of dripping wet backpacks.

"Somethin' wrong, Tex?" Louisiana asks.

Texas shushes her and backs up toward Russia, his arm out, guiding Louisiana to do the same.

"I heard something weird. Sounded like screamin', but something was wrong with it," Texas hurriedly explains, his voice low.

Russia reaches instinctively for his crowbar, only to realize that he doesn't have it.

'I must have lost it last night,' he thought, clenching his hands into fists.

Russia listens and notices that the forest around them is silent. It is as if all the animals have halted alongside him. Then, Russia feels his hair stand on end, and he looks around, expecting to see a pair of eyes peering around one of the trees.