"Maryland! You shouldn't be climbing that tree!" Delaware shouted nervously up to the spunky girl, already half-way up. "You might get stuck!"

Maryland shrugged the comment away and continued to struggle up the tall oak tree. She was hanging onto one branch, arms around it, feet pushed against the trunk, fighting to get higher. She wanted to be tall, and strong. This oak tree was mocking her size, and she just couldn't take that. She needed to prove herself to it. She needed to prove that she was just as strong, even though she was not as tall, or wide…

"MARYLAND!"

She glanced down at him, annoyed, and felt her hands begin to slip. She looked back up at them in quick panic to see the palms begin to open against her will. She gasped, and tried to clutch them closed again, to no avail. She felt the bark digging into the palms of her hands, and she winced in pain. She could hear Delaware screaming in fear. She bit her lip and tried to pull herself up again, for a new motive; to avoid falling.

Failure followed that.

Maryland's hands released the tension that was building up and she fell from the branch, emitting a small shriek as Delaware screamed at the top of his lungs.

She fell for about two half seconds before slamming onto another branch lower on the tree. However, it wasn't low enough to get out of the tree…and it wasn't possible for her to reach up to the other branches either. She stood herself up onto the branch, and looked up at the other branches. They weren't anywhere near reaching grasp, and Maryland stared up at them in thought. She couldn't figure out how to get up there…or how to get down.

She became aware of Delaware's screams subsiding into quiet sniffles, and she looked over to her left. She saw a group of men in fancy suits walking and talking. She noticed one of them; a very tall man (maybe a teenager? She wasn't sure…) who was slouching in slight boredom, but still listening intently to what the other men were saying. Maryland continued to watch him; something about him was so…captivating. She had never looked or felt for someone this way; not her sisters, not even Georgia, who was like a mother to her.

Just then, the man looked off behind him to see her staring at him. He stopped and stared back at her, with what looked like to be small curiosity. They stared at one another, oblivious to the world. Maryland was feeling a certain…longing. As if she had known this man for her whole life, but hadn't ever met him. He kept looking at her, holding the same expression until one of the men he was with tapped him on the shoulder impatiently, and he began to walk again, giving one last farewell glance with no change of expression. He turned and the group walked away. Maryland felt herself blush deeply, and looked down at her dirty red cotton dress. She had always been a little bit of a tomboy, but now she felt a little ashamed of what she had on; it was so simple to begin with, but now that she had been playing rather viciously in it, it was torn and covered in dirt and rips from the bark of the tree. As she stared down at it, a horrible realization hit her. Virginia is going to throw a fit once she sees this…

Delaware's screaming to Maryland continued once the group had left, and Maryland was thrown out of her self-conscious thoughts and glared down at him. His screaming wasn't going to make anything easier for her. "Be quiet Delaware!" she shouted at him, trying to get him to silence his cries. It too, was a failed attempt, his tears only getting bigger and louder. Maryland looked back up, groaning to herself. What a crybaby, she thought, beginning to jump up to reach the branch high above her. Sure, it was an additional three feet to her already small size of three feet, but she couldn't give up! If she gave up, she'd be at the mercy of her other sisters… She jumped up again, barely missing it. She landed onto the lower branch, nearly slipping and falling off. She gasped, but caught herself in time, and stood back up. She glared up at the other branch, and positioned to leap up past it, past the top, and even past the moon! She kneeled down, getting braced. She held that position, carefully checking over her target; imagining herself launching up and grabbing onto the branch…she could see it perfectly. It was going to happen.

She felt herself fly up through the air, arms flailing up in front of her, ready to grab onto the "landing panel" when gravity and logic caught up to her. She got so close to the branch (about two feet apart), and then felt her arm swing…and miss the branch completely.

She began to fall again, with an odd empty feeling in her hand. She couldn't grasp her mind around her falling; only that emptiness. There should be something in my hand…Maryland thought in shock to herself as Delaware began to scream even louder than before.

Maryland didn't have a chance to blink before she felt warm comforting arms around her. She looked up to see a tall man gazing disappointedly down at her. "Mary," he coaxed firmly, holding her still, "…why did you continue climbing trees, despite your sister Virginia telling you not to mess up any more of your dresses?"

Maryland scowled at her older brother, not swayed by his disappointment. "I wanted to!" she retorted, squirming to get out of his arms. He sighed deeply, and set her down. She ran out of his arms, and turned to him. She remembered the awful state her dress was in, and fear flashed across her face as she imagined her sister's reaction. A scared expression overtook her face and she looked up at her older brother, who was crouched down to his knees, comforting Delaware. "Pennsylvania," she whispered, clutching the hem of her dress to her cheek, "please don't tell Virginia!"

Pennsylvania glanced back and snorted. "I don't need to tell her," he retorted, standing back up. "You're such a sight to hold, she'll notice you a mile away!"

Maryland looked down at her state of hygiene and flinched again, images of her sister chasing after her with the broom rushing through her head. She looked back up at him again desperately. "Help me, please!" she begged. Pennsylvania rolled his eyes, and put his hand onto her head, stopping her pleas.

"All right, I'll help you." He said, giving in. Maryland smiled hopefully up at him, but he continued. "But next time, you're on your own. What were you thinking? You should have known better than to climb that tree. Anyone could have told that you were climbing one, but that tree? The first branch is a good few inches higher than you!" he sighed again, shaking his head. "What were you thinking?" he repeated to himself. Maryland frowned and pointed towards the tree. "I needed to prove that I could climb it," she stated, as if it was the obviously logical answer. "I needed to show that even small people could climb it, even though it looks hard and impossible to do!"

Pennsylvania stared at her, and then sighed for a third time, picking up the now silent Delaware. "Honestly Mary," he said, holding his hand out to her to take, "sometimes I worry about what goes on through your mind."

She glared at him again, grasping his hand. The two of them began to walk back to their house silently, with the occasional deep breath from Pennsylvania. He had been working very hard in the fields to make wheat and other crops for their family and their cousins' family who lived up further north. Delaware was surprisingly quiet; but he was always quiet when in company of one of the older siblings. They usually dotted on him, and it didn't help his sissy-like nerve.

Maryland yawned, and caught sight of the house over a little hill. It wasn't a very fancy stand-outish house, but it was home. "Home" was a small log cabin with only three rooms; a bed rooms for her, her younger brother (whom you have already been introduced to), and their two eldest sisters, Georgia, and Virginia, and the other bedroom for their other siblings, Pennsylvania (whom you have, again, already introduced to), and their fraternal twins; North Carolina, and South Carolina. The last room was the kitchen, where most of their sisters spent their day, sewing and cooking and cleaning…or sitting around and talking, as the twins often did, refusing to accept any work given their way.

It was the kitchen that Maryland and Delaware were suposed to spend their time, but with everyone leaving and entering, it got so stuffy and impossible for Delaware to breathe properly, and both Delaware and Maryland often got sick from the clamped up air. It was Pennsylvania who offered to have them play nearby where he worked in the fields, and he was the one to ultimately regret it, since Maryland usually got into some sort of mischief. Whether it was uprooting someone's crops, or, as the case was today, climbing trees that were more than ten times her size, Maryland was always doing something that she claimed to be a benefit to her growing.

She began to skip now that she had caught sight of the house. She felt Pennsylvania loosen his grip slightly, and used that as an opportunity to move her hand around and slip out of his grip. She began to run towards the house, smelling the freshly cooked meal waiting for the three of them. She bolted up onto the small porch and bounded through the front door into the kitchen. All her sisters were seated at the table, preparing for their meal. They all turned immediately to look at her; their expressions changing from pleasant greeting to shock.

"Maryland! What on earth did you do to your dress?" She heard Georgia, her eldest sister exclaim, getting up from the table and scurrying over to look over the damage of the dress. She pulled up at the dress's hem, leaving fingerprints in the dirt embedded into the fabric. Georgia glanced up at Maryland, shaking her head humorously. "Oh, Mary," she said, standing up and going to the small smoke stove by the wall. Maryland glanced around the siblings seated at the table and made a quick mental note that Virginia wasn't in the room.

Good; that gives me some time to sit down and keep her from…

"SOUTH CAROLINA! NORTH! WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS?" Virginia fumed at the twins, storming in.

…noticing. Maryland gulped as Virginia glanced over at her, jaw dropping open in disbelief.

"MARY! WHAT DID YOU DO?" She asked in obvious anger, running to her to do as Georgia had done, but with more force. Maryland stood completely still as Virginia looked all about the dress, her face growing more angry the more she saw. She grabbed Maryland's shoulders and glared right through her. "What did you do?" she growled again at the small seven year old. Maryland tried to shrink back, but Virginia's grip was firm. Maryland tried to avoid Virginia's face, but her glare held Maryland's eyes to hers. "Uh…I…was climbing a tree…" she stammered and Virginia threw up her arms in anguish. "Of course you were climbing trees!" she laughed in frustration, turning away from the shaking in fear child. "Might I ask why it was you felt the need to climb in a tree and ruin your dress?" she asked Maryland, turning back to her. Maryland's face turned a deep red; everyone was staring at her, including Pennsylvania and Delaware, who had just gotten inside, and were already seated at the table.

Maryland's face began to burn; she hated this kind of attention. She hated having everyone's eyes on her; she hated to be in trouble like this. It was punishment enough to be stared at, but Virginia wouldn't let her off easily. She knew that much.

Georgia did as well; she stood up and picked up two plates of their coming meal and walked over in between them. "Dinner will get cold if you don't hurry you two!" she said cheerfully, subtlety waving a plate towards Virginia. "If you don't eat it soon, it will have all gone to waste!"

Virginia stared off at the food as it past her face, and sighed frustrated, wiping her hands on her apron in an attempt to knock off something dirty that Maryland couldn't see. Maryland slid out while her sister was distracted and took a seat at the table next to Delaware.

The meal soon turned into a multiplayer conversation that, in past times, Maryland hadn't followed. And believe this; she had tried to stay out of it by quietly (and boredly) re-arranging her food, but she got sucked into the conversation when she heard Pennsylvania speak of men passing the fields in search of something…

Her head shot up out of her indifferent position. Thoughts of the man from earlier ran through her head again.

"Was one of them a tall man who looked…uhm…" Maryland paused at a loss for words, and began to blush as everyone turned to look at her.

Pennsylvania furrowed his brow. "Why? Did you see them pass by as you were climbing…" he saw Virginia glance up from eating to stare at him, and he cleared his throat. "…ahem, playing by the fields?"

Maryland nodded and South/North Carolina laughed. "Hahaha!" North sputtered while South began to gasp in amusement. "She…h-has a crush…" he began to pound his fist onto the table, "…o-on a…a…congressman!"

Maryland was about to rebuke him for suggesting that she had a crush on anyone, but stopped. "What's a…congressman?"

The laughter from the twins stopped. All eyes turned to glare evilly at the twins, except, of course, Delaware and Maryland. Delaware was completely out of it; too busy playing with his food. Maryland was irate that the attention wasn't on her. It was she who had asked the question, right?

She cleared her throat loudly and dramatically. "What is a congressman?" she asked again, attempting to throw a bit of elegance into her voice.

Eyes turned to her again (except Delaware); eyes filled with a secret…Maryland glared up at her older siblings. "Just tell her." South Carolina sighed, gesturing his hand towards Maryland. North rested her elbow on the table, and held her head in her hand. "She's not going to let it go now, you know…" she murmured, narrowing her eyes towards Maryland, locking eyes with the child.

Maryland pouted at North Carolina's gaze. "Yes I believe we know that, thank you very much!" Virginia snapped at North Carolina. North broke the gaze and removed her head from her hand. "What? I did nothing…" she said simply, facing towards Virginia, raising her shoulders and arms as if to seem confused. She pointed a finger behind her to South Carolina. "It's him that mentioned the congress…"

South Carolina looked up from his plate. "Who, me?" he asked, bread falling from his mouth.

"What is congress?" Maryland said louder, getting frustrated. Virginia ignored her and glared off at South Carolina. "Stop wasting all of that bread!" she exclaimed at him. "And don't talk while you eat; cover your mouth!"

North scoffed at Virginia. "It's 'cover your mouth' when you sneeze, Charlotte." Virginia froze and the entire room went silent. Delaware set his spoon down and looked up casually at everyone's shocked faces. "That's not Charoletta," Delaware said simply. "That's Virginia."

Maryland turned to North Carolina for an answer, but she waved her hand to Virginia. "Don't act so surprised, dear sister." She said to the others, taunting Virginia and the others with a sly grin on her face. "If she was to learn of congress, then it makes all too much sense to learn of our names…"

Virginia slammed her hands onto the table in anger, rising to her feet. "They are NOT, and under NO CIRCUMSTANCES will they EVER become our names!" she shouted, obviously angered by North Carolina's words.

Maryland was even more confused. She wanted to know what…congress…was. What did that have to do with…names? Didn't they all already have names? She wanted to ask about congress again (for a FOURTH TIME!), but no one was speaking…and she didn't want Virginia's new-founded rage to strike and lash out at her…

North Carolina rolled her eyes and head away from Virginia and saw Maryland's expression of fear and muddled confusion. Her face frowned in concern and she turned to the others. "Look, Mary's seven years old. You already were planning to tell her anyways," North said, taking a sip of her water. "And besides," she continued, setting down her glass, tone turning sarcastic, "you wouldn't want me to explain it all to her."

She stood up before Virginia had a chance to counter-attack and picked up the plates set around the table, minus Delaware, who had returned to playing with his food, and headed out to the stream that ran nearby. With a sigh, Pennsylvania turned away. South Carolina reached for another roll of bread as Virginia, gaining her pride back, stood up and went over to the room she shared with the other sisters. Georgia picked up Delaware and carried him off to his room to go to sleep.

Everyone had seemed to make themselves busy. Georgia re-emerged, holding fabric and a sewing needle and thread and sat down by the door.

Maryland plopped down from her chair and walked over to Georgia who was busy sewing up one of Penn's older, more worn garbs. She pulled over a seat next to her and sat in it, mistakenly blocking off the sunlight streaming in from the door. Georgia winced in response to the change in light. "Mary, move over, I need the light to do this!"

"What did North mean when she said we had names?" Mary asked, not moving an inch. "We already have names…don't we?"

Georgia sighed and put her hand to her head. "Mary, I'd really rather not discuss this now…" to which Maryland scowled. "Why can't you tell me? You kept it a secret for this long!" she complained.

Georgia sighed again and looked over to Penn. "How long until Mr. Kirkland gets here?" she asked quietly.

"About an hour from what he said." Penn said, not even looking up from his newspaper.

"All right Maryland, you win. I'll tell you." Georgia said, turning back to face the interested child. "But you've got to keep this very quiet, understand? You remember how we came to be, correct? How Mr. Kirkland is our brother?"

When Maryland nodded, Georgia continued. "We are his colonies, and we must remain so, because Mr. Kirkland is our brother. However..." Georgia said glancing over at Penn, still reading his newspaper, "…some of our other siblings up North don't think that we should be colonies anymore, and that we should all bind together to form one country, separate from Mr. Kirkland."

When Maryland gasped in surprise, Georgia took and fed off of it. "It's completely ridiculous to suggest such a thing though! Mr. Kirkland has been like a father to us let alone a brother! You think it's ridiculous, don't you Mary?"

Maryland hesitated a little while, and looked up at Georgia. "Wouldn't that mean…we get human names, like Mr. Kirkland? Is that what North Carolina was talking about?" She asked with excitement in her voice.

Maryland caught Georgia's look of slight disapproval and quickly added. "Not that I'd want anything like that! I like Mary just fine…"

Georgia laughed and stopped suddenly. "Our siblings up North considered some…" she said sullen-like. "Elizabeth for North Carolina…Andy for South…ridiculous!"

"What were they considering mine to be?" Maryland blurted out before she could stop herself. Georgia laughed and stood up, setting down Penn's clothes. "They were thinking of calling you Anna." she said, kneeling down to caress one of Maryland's cheeks.

Maryland contained disappointment in her head as Georgia went to help North Carolina carry in the dishes. She wanted a better name than just plain old "Anna." I'll just go by Mary…she thought, and then she stopped. The…"congress"…the man with the blue eyes…

"Georgia! What does that have to do with congress?"

"Congress is the group that formed who oppose being a colony to Mr. Kirkland, all composed of humans." North replied, beginning to dry the plates with Georgia. "They think that forming their own group trying to proclaim independence can actually make a persona of a country." North laughed, and continued to dry. "You need more than just people saying it; it needs to be set in stone, set in history! I'd like to see who they've got posing for the part; until America grows on his own…I won't believe it unless I see it!"

Maryland stood there. Could it be that the person I saw with blue eyes was…I've never met America before, but I heard about him description-wise…

A shadow covered the patch of light where Maryland stood, and a hard voice rang out. "I thought you said that the children would be in bed."

Maryland turned around to see a familiarly tall man in a suit and top hat standing in the doorway, looking her way. She felt compelled to shy away from her (literally) distant brother, Arthur Kirkland, but pride had her rooted to the floor. She wasn't a child!

"Oh sorry about Maryland, Mr. Kirkland," Georgia said sweetly, formally addressing the elder country. "She hasn't gotten off to bed yet…"

"It's no problem by me," Arthur said. "She seems old enough to understand what is right and what is foolish!" He walked out of the doorway into the room. He seemed out of place, standing tall and regal. Maryland frowned. She was the oak tree in the house, tall and strong. She didn't need to move for anything new, like Arthur, who was staring at her intently again.

Fortunately, they moved for her; Arthur seating himself at the table, while Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Georgia followed, all taking seats around him and South Carolina. Arthur looked around the table. "Where's Virginia?" he asked curtly as Maryland slid onto a seat next to Pennsylvania. He gave her a look of skepticism, but said nothing.

"Virginia is in her room, unable to attend to your visit." Georgia said quickly, but just as charismatically, as if Virginia was simply ill. Arthur nodded. "Okay, may we get down to business?" he asked as if silencing a noisy crowd of rude delinquents.

He laid his hands onto the table. "I know I need to silence these ideas of independence early in their tracks." he said, looking at all of the Southern colonies minus Delaware seated around him. "This is why I've scheduled to meet with you all; because I need to get everyone to be completely on my side in this."

"And what does that mean, huh?" South Carolina asked.

"We are on your side, Mr. Kirkland, sir." Pennsylvania added.

Arthur gave him a sharp look. "Don't try me Pennsylvania; I know you and Delaware are equally split, going back and forth towards territories as middle colonies makes you two half and half on whether to split as well as New York and New Jersey."

"But Mr. Kirkland," Georgia began to protest.

"It goes for all of you!" Arthur said loudly, silencing Georgia immediately. "You all have the majority of your population supporting to stay with me as a colony, but a small percentage of you isn't convinced yet! That could change everything! We need to convince everyone in the colonies to stay a colony and not start anything unruly."

"Have you been to see Alfred yet, Mr. Kirkland?" North Carolina asked softly, breaking the tension that only flew through Maryland. Arthur's eyes weakened slightly. "Yes I have…" he said regretfully. "He's really grown up a lot since I last saw him…"

His eyes were still and deep as he thought, but then suddenly they returned to their determined blaze. "He will not grow up in that way though. I won't allow it; not even a thought of independence can enter his mind! Alfred is a child at heart still, and cannot run a country on his own. He will just end it in desolation. We need to end this now."

"I couldn't agree more" North Carolina said, pushing herself up from the table and extending a hand to Arthur to shake. "Count me in."

"In on what?" South Carolina asked her harshly.

"In on stopping anyone from talking about this split." She retorted back. Arthur accepted the shake.

"Arthur," Georgia said, standing as well. Arthur raised his eyebrows to the sudden informality, but Georgia ignored this. "I want you to know that if you feel any need to impose any rules of laws on my citizens, then I'm all for it." She stared down into his eyes. "I know who a leader is, and you're the only leader for me and my siblings."

Arthur rose at this. "Thank you for your time." he said. "I will do what I can…and you do the same." He said, glancing over at everyone. His eyes stopped on Maryland, giving her a stern stare again. She felt her stomach flip over. He was looking at her like she was someone who was thinking of overthrowing him. It worried her; she'd never do that! Not to a sibling…

Arthur was seen to the door by South Carolina, and when he turned away, Pennsylvania leaned back in his seat, seemingly relaxing. Georgia walked by, picking up the newspaper and smacking him in the head with it. "When have you been going to see the others?" she asked in a hissing voice. "I thought you were working in the fields all day while letting Mary and Delaware play nearby!"

Pennsylvania leaned back again, looking up at the ceiling and away from Georgia. "I don't always work in the fields, but I haven't gone to the North recently, so don't worry about it, all right?"

"Arthur seems pretty torn up about all this." North Carolina mentioned, sitting down beside Pennsylvania and Maryland.

Georgia frowned. "Call him Mr. Kirkland, North. You know it's what he prefers."

North snorted. "You sure did a fine right showing of that today. 'Arthur, please push upon any laws you feel pleasure onto me, I can take it! You're my leader, my hero!' Psh! You were being worse than Virginia, whose always trying to get on his good side."

Georgia sighed. "Yes I know, I thought that too. I just wanted him to know that we were serious about it."

"Serious indeed." Pennsylvania scoffed to himself quietly. North smacked him across the arm. "Just pick whose side you're on exactly, brother," she snarled at him harshly. Georgia gave both of them a look. Maryland looked timidly at all of them.

"What? Why would we even want to split from brother?" Maryland asked, confused as to why anyone would want to leave their family.

Her siblings all glanced at each other wearily. "Come now Maryland; humans are arrogant and believe they can do what they want, as long as they have 'freedom' and 'independence.'" North said, patting her back. "Now run off to bed, it's incredibly late…"

Mary nodded, and jumped off the chair and walked into the room she shared with her sisters. Virginia was seated on her bed, busy sewing with an oil lamp. Maryland hopped up onto her bed and pulled the covers onto her body. She felt out of place with the silence presence her sister caused; she was too anxious to sleep. Thoughts swarmed through her head. Family was family. They couldn't split. What were they thinking up North? Things are fine the way they are now. I don't want to change. I want to stay here with everyone!

The awkward atmosphere created by Virginia's haughty presence faded as soon as these thoughts overtook Maryland, as she slowly drifted off into a nervous, uneasy sleep.

Thunder, and ice and rain. So much rain. Sailing is hard; not enough room. The ice is wearing thin, but it isn't increasing speed. Starts to get too heavy; boat, going down; can't move, can't get out, can't swim, can't float can't breathe…!

Mary awoke, gasping, and suddenly thankful for the fact that it was only a dream. It was so vivid, it felt like it was a part of her. Her eyes welled up at the thought of not being able to move, and slowly sinking towards death, towards water… She, along with her other siblings, did not know how to swim. It was pretty unhealthy to be near water at all, and so they almost never bathed, something that pleased South and Delaware as well as annoyed and tempered Virginia. There would be no point to ever go to water in their lives, so Maryland was unsure as to why she would dream of something like this.

Remembering this, Maryland regained her composure and calmed down. She pulled over the covers and got up to see she was the only one in the room. She grabbed and shoved on her dress, knowing very well she was probably late and ran out the door past her sisters to catch up to Pennsylvania and Delaware.

She ran down the trail pathway towards the fields and began scanning the rolling hills ahead as she ran. She squinted and thought she could see two figures climbing ahead...

Slam! Mary gasped as she came to a halt, crashing into a towering figure.

She stumbled back, mumbling an apology, rubbing her eyes. The figure cast a shadow over Maryland, barely blocking out the suns rays. They still managed to pierce her eyes, and in result, they began to water a bit.

"Where are you headed off to?" The figure asked in a boyish cheerful voice. Maryland shrugged, backing away a bit to look at him. "I'm looking for my brothers. They went out this way." She paused, looking up at him with new found curiosity. "Did you see them walk away by any chance?"

The man shook his head. "No I just headed down this way. Say," he said seriously, kneeling down so he was face to face with Maryland, "haven't I…oh…"

Mary's eye's widened. This was that man from yesterday…!

She blushed and backed away a little bit. The man moved closer. "You are, aren't you? What…when did you come?"

Maryland grew puzzled. "What do you mean?"

"I mean when…how long have you…ah, this isn't easy…" he said, pushing his hand through his messy blonde hair. "How long have you been living here?"

"Why?"

"Please, I just need to know," the man said, sounding desperate. "How long have you been living here?"

Maryland shifted uneasily. "Uh…well, I've lived with my brothers and sisters for a really long time here but…" Her mind started to swirl. She tried to think back to the time when…Ah, if only she could remember…!

"I'm pretty sure there was one time where I lived with my big brother." She saw the man flinch at the word "big brother," as if he had painful memories attached to the name.

She grew annoyed and restless. "But that was a really long time ago, and right now, I've gotta find my brothers."

Mary was about to turn away when she felt him grab her wrist. She turned around sharply, fear creeping into her face. The man's face softened at this. "Ah…I'm sorry," he said, letting go. "I just…I'm getting under a lot of stress with my big brother."

Maryland stopped. "Really?" she asked curiously. He nodded, and stuck out his hand. "I'm Alfred," he said. Mary shook, and then froze. She remembered it; last night, while they were talking to Arthur…

"I won't allow it; not even a thought of independence can enter his mind!

"Alfred is a child at heart still, and cannot run a country on his own.

"He will just end it in desolation."

She gasped, and looked at him wide eyed. "Alfred? But you…you…" she began glaring and she stomped her foot. "You want to split! You want to break our family!"

Alfred looked wounded for a few seconds, or so Mary thought. In an instant he turned red faced, flushed with anger. "I'm not trying to tear anyone apart kid," he said, trying to control his temper. "I have no idea what's going on politically, except that my brother is angering a lot of citizens in a lot of states. I have absolutely no idea as to what's happening."

Mary stood there, unfazed by her motives. If she couldn't do anything last night, she could do something now; convince Alfred that he couldn't leave, that he couldn't split away (whatever that is…"split away…"). She'd end it here.

Alfred sighed, shaking his head a bit. "It's not like that for your family, is it?" he asked wearily. "You guys have each other together all the time; it must be nice to see family every once in awhile…"

Mary looked at him confusedly. "What do you mean? Don't you have a family?"

He laughed. "How often does Arthur come to see you all?"

Mary paused. He almost never came; the last time she had seen him was when she was still just a little kid. "The same amount of time he comes to visit your family is what he visits me," Alfred said grimly. "I never see him; he never talks to me. And…everything with him is just…image…"

Mary looked up at him fearfully. Alfred's own view on the subject…made everyone else's seem…crude. Like they didn't even consider him No one remembered his view; didn't remember that he was in their family…

Two more people suddenly appeared behind of Alfred, making Mary jump. They were tall and stoic, shadows eerily casted upon her.

Alfred turned and gasped in surprise, stumbling from his kneeled position. The men paid no attention to it. "Alfred, come on," the man on the left said as Alfred stood up, brushing the dirt off of his slacks. "We've got to go over these new things for the meeting today."

Alfred nodded sadly and walked off, leaving Mary to stare off at him. No family…no friends…

Mr. Kirkland said Alfred was still a child. If that was the case, why did he have to go to a meeting? Why couldn't he play? Did he even have anyone to play with?

Maryland turned away, walking down the pathway, still thinking. When she reached her brothers, the thoughts involving Alfred were swept away like water rolling over a shore, and she bickered with Delaware and tried to climb more trees for the rest of the day, unsuccessfully landing on her behind.

The wind pitched and howled, sending chills down everyone's backs. They all floated in their boats, through the ice-encrusted waters, the edge of the landing spot being seen nowhere in sight.

Mary clutched her shawl to her in an attempt to stay warm. Her long, slender legs allowed her to see over the heads of the troops in front of her, and she noticed her family member's boats get slower.

A call rang out from the front, brisk and hard. "There isn't enough room to get through," it said, "We will surely all drown."

Maryland stood there silently with the other members of her boat while the others in their boats went out in a panic. She could hear her own sisters cursing the cause of this midnight invasion, wishing that it hadn't occurred, wishing they could be with Great Britain, wishing they could be home.

Mary stood taller, and the troops and her boss did the same. She reached over the water to a small ice cap, and lifted her foot slowly to step on the ice. It was bitter cold, and the moist water from the ice melted straight into her shoe, freezing her foot. She closed her eyes to keep from crying out, and stepped out onto the ice completely, standing there, trying to maintain composure. Her eyes welled up from the cold, but she blinked the tears away and turned to help the next troop out, all of them eventually stepping out onto the ice.

The cries of retreat had subsided as everyone turned to watch her help the others out. When everyone was out of her boat, Mary looked up at her family; her sister's faces were etched with shock and worry. She looked back at them blankly, trying to look strong. She could not feel anything below her lower knees.

Georgia and Virginia's faces disappeared as someone pushed through their boat to look out. His face seemed curious as he pushed through the crowd but stopped when he looked at her; eyes falling, heart apparently crushed. He looked at Mary with a longing gaze, but one that showed no recognition; as if he had forgotten their encounter five years before…

Mary looked at Alfred silently. She looked into his blue eyes, away from the dark icy water and the gray snow hurling through the black sky. She stared at him as the boats continued to move, ignoring the calls and cries resume, ignoring the strategy going out again, being readjusted to fill someone in for her and her troops roles; until slowly, his blonde hair was all she could see, and he drifted farther from sight, no further from mind.

The cold built up farther, and she could no longer feel below her torso. She shivered, clutching her shawl. Her troops sat in silence, staring off into the waters. Her boss had joined them, leaving her to solitude.

The ice cracked. The cold grew. The men drifted off into sleep, or remained quiet. The ice cracked again.

When Mary was a little girl of seven, she longed to be a strong person like her older siblings, to be strong and rooted, unfazed by anything; like a tree. Now that she was here at the beginning of her winter decay, there were no trees in sight. As the water touched her feet for the first time, she wondered whether she had done it; become a tree. The water reached her ankles. She looked up, hoping she was tall enough. The water hit her knee. She wondered if she had been strong. The ice finally broke, leaving her to wonder if she had made any difference.

The boat was going to sink that day the American's were going to launch a secret attack on Christmas Eve. All of the Maryland troops volunteered to stick it out, and stepped onto an ice cap, allowing the boat to push through with no worry. George Washington looked back with thankfulness, dubbing Maryland as The Old Line state, and that it would always be a backup, strong long line that everyone could depend on. The dub is still printed on todays Maryland quarter, for all to see and remember how strong and tall little Maryland had become.

A/N: I would like to thank you guys for reading. I came up with the story a year ago and finally finished. I first heard the story four years ago and so if the details got jumbled up, that's why. I don't know exactly what invasion it was, but I believe it was when the U.S. soldiers attacked the Hessian town on Christmas Eve. Maryland's character was based loosely off of me as a child, and Delaware my younger brother.

Find it to be a shocker, but yes, I am a Marylander. And proud of it.

I sincerely thank you, and hope you enjoyed reading it.