APH Jersey History 1

My name is Jersey, and, though you may not believe me, I am not sixteen years old. I am over 25,000 years old, and I represent Jersey, one of the small Islands in the English Channel between England and France. My sister, Guernsey, obviously represents Guernsey. I'm going to tell you a story about my life as a nation, the things I have gained and lost on my journey to become what I am today, the Bailiwick of Jersey.

Let's begin with the time I was born. The first memory I ever had was waking up lying on a sandy beach. The tide was coming in, and the sun was setting over the distant horizon, making the sea reflect off the sky, causing the scene seem like it was burning, glowing with a mixture of reds, oranges and pinks. When I turned around, I saw tall, raggedy cliffs. At this time, bearing in mind I was a small child, and I had no idea where I was, who I was, or even what I was, so the tall stony structure looming over me and casting a shadow along the beach intimidated me and scared me slightly. Above the seemingly never ending cliffs, there was a huge forest, or, what looked like one from where I was standing anyway. The trees were a rich green colour; they too were covered in the soft glow of the sunset. I knew, somehow, that I had to get up to the top of the cliffs, but I couldn't see any other way up, other than climbing somehow. I looked down to my feet, they were bare, and my body was only covered with something like a white dress, coming down to my ankles. My hair was also long, which is another thing that would get in my way if I was to climb the cliffs.

Out of Ideas, I decided to scale the small strip of land to find an easier way up to the top. The end of the beach looked a long way away, past the horizon both ways. So, I decided, whichever way I went it would probably be the same distance, so I just had to try my luck and go one way. I cautiously started walking slowly along the beach, my head constantly turning slightly for any signs of danger- not that I knew of anything that could be dangerous, I just decided to trust my instincts. Croak I jumped at the noise coming from behind me. I tripped over my own feet, and stumbled a few more steps before turning around, wide eyed. There, in front of me, was a small green creature with yellow spots on its back. It had strange legs, and its toes, unlike mine, looked like they had skin stretched across them. It made the strange noise again, and it jumped, landing beside my feet. Now, not knowing what this thing was, I trusted my instincts. Run, and boy did I run, I could feel the cool sand being turned over as my feet flicked it behind me, the small thud of my feet as it hit the sand sounded loud, which only made me run faster. I finally stopped, leaning against the tall cliff and gasping for air, eyeing my surroundings to make sure there were no more of those creatures. That was my first encounter of a 'frog'.

It was, in fact, a rather scary encounter for me, as I was just a small child, perhaps looking around the age of three, maybe two and a half at the least. When I had finally caught my breath back, I stood back up and sighed, relieved that the creature had stopped chasing me, if that was what it was doing. The sky had discarded the orange glow, and was replaced with a dark purple aura, and instead of a bright sun, there was a white full moon shining on the water, causing the whole sea to lighten up. The tide was also coming in closer; I had to get to the top of the cliffs- or at least find shelter for the night. I looked up at the huge cliffs again, noticing that it had started to slope, giving an easier way up than it was further back, where there was no way except to climb.

I yawned, making my way over to a rocky ledge so I could pull myself up. The rock was cool, sending shivers down my spine as I balanced on the ledge. I slowly stepped onto a patch of green; It was long grass, reaching up to my ankles. The blades of grass were soft and tickled my feet as I made my way up the steep hill, occasionally having to climb onto a few rocks. After a while, I felt my legs getting tired, so I had to sit down on one of the large rocks. The thin fabric of my dress wasn't enough to keep the coldness from the rock off of my legs, but I was tired. I looked down to the beach, which was surprisingly not that far away. I hadn't gone very far, yet my legs were already feeling tired. I wrapped my arms around my legs, and tried to get in a comfortable position to get some sleep. Suddenly, I heard a rustle; I looked up and squinted, seeing a figure on a rock, next to a small bush.

"ENEMY SIGHTED! PREPARE ATTACK!" The voice shouted. It sounded quite high pitched; suddenly the person hopped down from the large boulder and began to run towards me.
"COME ON, GIDDY UP HORSEY!" She laughed, galloping towards me. I eyed the girl carefully, backing as far away as I could into the back of the rock. "Hi!!" The girl said, a large grin was on her face, she appeared to be bouncing energetically on her feet. Her eyes were blue, cerulean like the blue sea I saw earlier.

"W-who are you?" I asked cautiously, frowning. The girl moved towards me, kneeling on the same rock.

"No idea!" she grinned, standing up and holding out a hand for me to grasp. I looked at the hand, and slowly lifted my own to meet hers. She pulled me up and grinned.
"So, what about you, Ya got a name?" I shook my head slowly, staring in awe at how energetic this person was.

"Do you want to play with me?" She asked, pulling a stick from a belt made of vines, which was tied around her waist. "This is my dagger! Awesome isn't it?"  I nodded, not really keeping track of what she was saying.

"U-umm, I have to get to the top of the cliff…" I said, I was suddenly grasped by the wrist and pulled off the rock.

"I'll help you!! Get on!" The girl said, pointing to thin air. I cocked my head to one side.
"What…?" I asked, not really understanding the girl.

"Get on My horse, of course! Her name's Brownie!" The girl flashed yet another grin, holding her thumbs up and stroking thin air.

"There's… nothing there." I said. The girl just huffed and pouted at me, folding her arms.

"You're so annoying! It's called pretend!" She said. I sighed, Somehow I got the feeling I would be dealing with this energetic girl for a long time…
I was suddenly pulled by the wrist again, my feet made contact with the hard ground, it made them sting a little bit. I looked up at the sky again, the sun had completely disappeared and the moon shone down brightly, all the stars accompanying it. I looked at the girl who was currently pulling me up the steep hill. Her brown hair was blowing in the breeze as she ran; she turned her head slightly and smiled at me. I suddenly didn't feel so tired anymore, In fact, I felt as if her energy had been passed to me. I was suddenly restless and bored, not having a clue what to do, so I ran faster. I was now not being dragged along, but running alongside the girl. She suddenly gave me a cheeky grin, and started to run faster, letting go of my arm. My cheeks flushing with excitement, I smirked and started to run faster, overtaking her slightly. I giggled, as she overtook me again. I took in a deep breath of air, and boosted my speed again, once again overtaking the girl. We both started laughing, and continued to race, the wind whistled through our hair, and we were soon running so fast I could hardly see the rocks and paths we were running up. We continued to run for ages, what seemed like hours but were probably only a few minutes, as I don't think that my legs would have carried me that long.  Finally, I felt myself get out of breath. I coughed a little, and sat down on the path that was now coming to a slight slope; I guessed we were nearly up the whole cliff. The other girl too, laughed and sat down, breathing heavily to try and gain her breath back.
"That was fun!" She breathed, grinning.

"And, we're nearly at the top!" She said, patting the imaginary horse again. "Well done Brownie!" I rolled my eyes and grinned. This girl was certainly odd. But, in a good way, I guessed.

"Oh, Thank you for helping me to the top" I said smiling at the other girl.

"Ha-ha, that's okay!" She grinned, and gave me a thumbs-up again. I stood up and smiled at the girl, before I turned around and started to walk through the cool grass, breathing it the night air.

"Wait!" She called. I frowned and turned around, it was the girl again. "Wait! I just thought maybe… because I don't know this place very well, and you're the first person I've met, we could maybe go together! And besides, you seem… I don't know… the same" She said. I blinked, not realising my shyness of the girl had been replaced with complete trust, and friendship. I smiled.

"Sure!" I said. The girl grinned again, and jumped- literally- up from where she was sitting.

"Thank you, Come on then! Let's continue with our adventure!" The girl immediately sprung into action, taking the stick out of her belt thing and holding it out with one hand, the other was holding my hand. She began to walk up the hill again, I didn't know where all that energy came from, as I was only just gaining my breath back from the race we'd had earlier.

Now, before I go any further with my story, I would just like to say a few things. At this point, I have no idea I am a nation, No idea what anything is around me. At this time, I was still part of continental Europe, so I wasn't actually an Island yet, and certainly had no Idea that this girl I had met was just like me, But, I won't tell you who she is, I don't want to spoil the story!

Anyway, I was back to being pulled along by the girl. I noticed she was wearing the same thin, white dress as me. The shadows of the trees began to darken; the stars were now covered with large, grey clouds, the night darker than it already was. A cold wind blew past us, causing me to shiver. I felt tiredness overcome me again. To tell the truth, even with the girl and her overwhelming confidence, the unknown forest at night was quite the scary scene.

"So…" I broke the silence that was lingering in the air.

"Where are we going?" I asked, wondering if this girl actually knew where we were. If she did, I could ask her which direction I could go to get to civilization, if she didn't… Well, I don't know what I'd do.

"I Dunno, I just remember waking up somewhere around here!" She said, plastering another one of those grins on her face. I groaned, this meant I was lost somewhere in the wilderness, with no clue who or what I was. I yawned, and sat down on the grass, leaning my back against a tree trunk. I shivered and curled into a ball. I watched as the girl, again grinned (It seemed to be the only expression she possessed, other than cheeky) and sat down beside me.

"So, I'm guessing you don't know where we are either?" she asked. I stared at a small, white flower with a yellow circle in the middle and shook my head.

"No, I just remember waking up on that huge bit of soft, golden stuff! And then I saw this weird creature, and it started following me and-"I stopped when I heard soft snoring. I looked over at the girl, only to realise that she was, in fact, asleep. I gave her a quick annoyed glance, and then sighed, curling into a tighter ball, as I slowly drifted off to sleep.

The next morning, as my eyelids slowly opened, I could feel my back, shoulders and neck aching from where I laid on the solid ground all night. I sat up and groaned, resting my head against the rough tree bark. I looked over to where the other girl was laying; she was curled up in a tight ball, her head rested on my stomach, and her thumb in her mouth. She muttered something unintelligible, before slowly opening one blue, wary eye. She licked her lips and rubbed her eyes, yawning.

"That was a great night's sleep!" She exclaimed, grinning at me. I suddenly felt my original shyness creep back, I flushed pink and nodded furiously.
I stood up, leaning against the tree, the bark scratching my back and head. I stared at the cliff. The sun was reflecting brightly across the ocean, making the water glint and shine. The clouds looked like strips of cotton wool that had been pulled across the sky. (Of course, I didn't know what cotton wool was either, but I'm telling this from my point of view now, I wouldn't have thought it back then though!)

I turned and looked at the edge of the huge forest. It didn't look as frightening as it did at night, where the shadows of trees made the paths winding round for miles seem darker. I turned my head to look at the girl, who, to my amusement, was chasing a small creature with coloured wings. She suddenly jumped and clapped her hands together, holding them out as if she were holding a small ball of something. She grinned and opened them. The creature was resting on her hands; I moved closer and stared at it. It had pretty orange circles on its wings, exactly the same on each side like a mirror. It suddenly flew up and landed on my nose. I shrieked with surprise, staring cross eyed at the small thing. The girl got her stick out and ran at me, probably trying to get the thing to go away. Sadly though, she didn't think about what would happen to me. I gasped just as the long stick hit me across the eyes, sending me flying backwards. My back hit the tree hard and I fell to the ground, hitting my nose on the grass.

I felt my eyes prickle, as I sat kneeling on the ground, I brought my hands up to my eyes and rubbed them. Suddenly, I felt something wet and hot dripping down my cheeks, my breathing was starting to get shallow, and quite frankly, this scared me, causing my eyes to water even more. I wiped away the wetness on the back of my hand, only to see something dark red smeared across them. I didn't know what this was at first, but somehow I heard something tell me that it was blood, and something that really shouldn't be outside of your body.

"A-are you okay?! You're not going to die or anything, are you?!" The girl asked me. I shook my head, and sniffed. Tears continued to mingle with blood as they dripped down my face. My whole head hurt, it felt as if someone was wringing it out from the inside, and someone kept on hitting it, like it was going to split open. My eyes felt worse, they stung badly.

"Hey! Talk to me!!" The girl said, kneeling next to me and poking my shoulder. "Don't die! I won't have anyone to play with!" she pouted. I gulped, and managed to slow down my breathing enough to talk.

"I-I'm not" I said, rubbing my eyes again.
"I didn't mean to hit you with my dagger! It was the flying things fault! It made me hit you! It's an evil mastermind that wants to turn us against each other!" she said, crawling in front of me and shaking my shoulders. She frowned at me and stood up, taking my arm and pulling me up too. "Well, now you're okay, we can continue our adventure!"
Her mood changed in the blink of an eye, back to being an energetic ball of energy. She quickly grabbed hold of my hand and turned toward the forest, pulling me to the path to enter. "Let's go! Our mission is to fight off all those that get in our way! Oh, you need a weapon!" She said, holding out her own. "Oh well, I'll just do all the fighting evil people, and you can watch me!" She said, laughing.

"Um… person… Do we have to go inside that place?" I asked, pointing to the muddy path, leading into the woods.
She nodded, starting to skip down the dry pathway of solid mud. The trees towered high above us, casting shadows all around. The sun shone through the leaves, creating a ripple effect whenever a breeze made the trees sway and the shadowy ground change.

We walked for days; the girl was surprisingly good at climbing the huge, thick trees, so she could see over the top so she knew which direction to go. The long trek through the forest was quite tiring, especially since we only had small bodies and little legs.

It was a long journey, but we finally managed to get out of the huge forest. Our legs ached, our bodies were cold, but the beauty of what lay the other side of the forest was indescribable. All you could see was fields. Luscious, dark green fields for miles and miles, dotted with a few trees. A huddle of cottages lay in the distance, just about visible from where we stood.

"Wow…" I breathed, moving forward, closer to the surreal scene. My shock was mimicked my the girl, who was grinning madly like an idiot.

"Yay! I found the way to paradise! Thank me!" She said, turning to me and demanding I praised her. I shrugged, knowing it wasn't actually her that brought us here, I probably would've got there anyway.
"Thank you" I said. I was happy, ecstatic, I'd found a friend, seen such a beautiful scene. But, little did I know what would happen to me and my new friend after this.