Hawai'i Talks Story [Countryhumans and Statehumans Oneshots]

From Ashes To Flames [Republic Of Hawaii Book Preview]

January 18, 1893

Fire. Smoke. Flames. Ashes.

Rain, cool, sweet, good smelling rain that pitter-patters on his face.

Warm,

Those were the smells and sights of his birth. It was chaos and wonderment, black into immediate yellows and reds dancing before his eyes. Then down, down, down into embers that sizzled even when the rain was over.

It was almost... beautiful. But then the world went dark once more, and just silence. A sweet, still silence.

Embers burned in the moonlight, and he smiled a little. It was nice to see the embers and the ashes surrounding him, keeping him warm this January night. It was so pretty.

There was something beside him, something poking into his back, and he sat up to see it was a person. Who exactly, he hadn't a clue. It was a woman, her hair burned short and close to her head. She also had wings, in red yellow and orange, much like a fire. Much like his own. Interesting. She looked familiar, in a way. He stared at the woman's face, where he could make out words.

Republic of Hawaii. Huh. That was an odd set of words, but it sat just right with him. He rolled it over his tongue, tasting the words to himself, "The Republic of Hawaii."

His own voice sounded odd to him, as this was the first time he had spoken, but it didn't matter. It sounded like the words belonged to him, and he liked the sound of that. He stood up, and yelled it, just to hear it ring in his ears. "The Republic of Hawaii! Hawaii! Hawaii!"

He laughed at the sound of the word, smiling as he shouted into the open spaces. "I like this word. I am Hawaii!"

Then, he quieted down, thinking for a moment. He toed the body, before picking up the hand and moving it away from the face. She was burning hot, but something told him he wouldn't get hurt if he touched her.

"Hey, Miss? Are you okay?" He asked slowly, poking her in the face. Her face wasn't burned or mangled, just covered in ashes all over. How curious.

She looked older than him. She wasn't breathing at all that he could see, and he exhaled in relief. Oh, that's terrible. A dead body. Wonder who that belonged to.

Then, he sighed, looking back at the body. Something told him to stay here, but a bigger part of him wanted food. He walked over and pulled the body into a face down position, and then pulled her wings open on her like a blanket.

Maybe it was a bit morbid to move around a dead body, but it seemed wrong to leave without making it nice and comfortable. She might not wake up, but at the very least she would be able to rest in peace.

He then sprinkled some more ashes on her face, for seemingly no reason at all, before standing up. This was such an odd night.

After he went aways, it was still dark, and he felt a little sleepy, and as such, decided to set up a place to sleep.

He collected up pieces of wood, somehow knowing, deep inside, what a campfire was. Another one of those wonderful Country things is that they have vague memories from the people who came before, and one of them, a vivid one, was fire.

Fire was warmth, it was life, it was birth. And as such, he loved it for a very good reason.

From Ashes To Flame, an upcoming book by the Angel Basket, release date unknown.