Sicily's Stories 2

Sicily Stories      

       “An island… Under Italy… Shouldn’t be too hard to find… I can see it on the map…” Greece kept muttering to himself as the crew continued to pack up the ship. The exploration was just about to commence.  They were heading to southern Italy, where the island his mother had told him about lived.
“Sir? The ship is almost set but…”
“But…?” Greece asked.
“Sir why do we have to bring all these cats…?” Greece stared at him for a while with his usual day dreamed look.
“I love cats… They’re… They’re so cool…”
The crewmember sighed. “Ok sir… Whatever you say….”

The boat set sail from the port as the voyage began. They had to encounter the harsh waves and long distance, but Greece was asleep the whole time so he wouldn’t remember that part….
“Captain!” a crewmember called. “Land! We see land!” Greece sprung up and ran out to the deck.
“Is this it? Is this the land?”
“It should be. If the waves didn’t knock our course off… This is it…” Greece hopped off the boat It was warm, REALLY warm. The land was rough, more hilly than rough though. He could see huge mountains in the distance, and maybe even a volcano.
“I’m taking some of the troops with. The rest of you stay here.”
“Understood captain!” the crew responded. Greece started to walk out onto the island as a bunch of cats wearing helmets followed.
“What’s with that guy in cats?” asked one of the crew.
“Who knows...” replied the other.

It felt like he was walking forever. The island was completely deserted. There was nothing but hills and weeds everywhere. “Where is it? There’s no one here… Maybe mom was just joking about a country being here…”
“Mew?”
“No Artimis we can’t rest yet… We have to keep going…”
“Meow???”
“Come on Apollo knock it off! I said no treats until we rest! Mother of Zeus I can’t even take you guys on a walk without complaints…” He looked up ahead, but didn’t see any hills or weeds. This time he saw trees. Tons and tons of trees sitting in the plain of daylight.
“MEW!!!” The cats all scurried by the trees and looked up to see orange balls perched in them.
“What is it you guys?” Greece asked. He walked over and plucked one from the tree. He stared at in in confusion. “What is this…? It’s so… Orange…” He took a bite into it. “Ew!!! Ew ew ew ew!!!! Gross!!!” He spat it out and washes his mouth in the river “Yuck!!!” (He didn’t take the skin off… Idiot…”)

As he continued to wash his mouth, he could hear it. There was a faint crying sound from down the creek. “Crying?”
“Mew?”
“Yeah Hera… I hear it too…” He lead grabbed some of the oranges and headed down the creek, leading the cats. The crying got louder and louder until he could hear it coming from a small bush.
“Mew?”
“I don’t know Hera…” Greece walked over to the bush and pushed back the leaves. There, he found a small girl who looked no older than three. She didn’t take any notice of him and continued to sob.
“Mew!”
Greece glared a bit at the cats. “No shit it’s a girl guys….” He looked back down at her. “L-little girl…? H-hey kid…? W-why are you crying…?”
She wiped her eyes and looked up at him with her dark brown orbs. “M-me…?”
“Yes you silly…” he said picking her up out of the bush. She was so small and light. Her dress was messy and unkempt like her hair. “Why are you crying?”
“B-because… M-miss Greece didn’t come back… Sh-she said she would come back…” The little girl started to bawl again. “S-she left me alone just like Carthage… Sh-she hates me just like everyone else…” Greece stared back at her for the longest time.
“That’s not true…”
“Yes it is!!! She hates me!!!”
“No… She must’ve loved you… She was really worried about you…” The girl looked up at him.
“How… How would you know…?”
Greece smiled a bit. “Because… I knew her… she sent me here to look for you… She sounded very worried…”

The girl wiped her eyes and stared up at him. “Sh-she was…? R-really…? How do you know miss Greece…? Who are you…?”
“I’m Greece.” He replied. The girl started to pout.
“Nu! You’re not! You’re a liar! You can’t be Miss Greece you’re a boy!”
“Miss Greece was my mother. She’s Ancient Greece, and I’m just Greece. Do you get it?”
The girl nodded. “I think so… So Miss Greece was your mommy?”
“Yes.” Greece sat her down in the grass and sat next to her. “Now why is a little thing like you all alone out here…?”
The little girl looked down. “Because… I don’t have a family… And no one wants to be my family… Carthage didn’t want to either…”
“Who’s Carthage?”
“He’s my Papa… But he didn’t want me…” Tears started to well in her eyes. “He hated me…”
Greece stared at her for a bit. He took out a handkerchief and wiped her tears. “Don’t cry now… It’s ok… Where is Carthage now?”
She wiped the rest of the tears off her sleeve. “That big Rome guy conquered him….” A loud gurgle emitted from the girl’s stomach. “AHHH!!!” She screamed. “MONSTER!!!!”
Greece laughed. “It’s your stomach silly!” He dug through his bag and took out the orange. “I don’t think you want this… It isn’t very tasty…”
“ARANCIA!!!” She jumped up and grabbed it from him. “Where did you get this!!!!????”

“Wh-wha!? Arna… Cia…? What is it? It’s supper gross… Is it food…?”
She smiled. “Si! It’s food! Arancia~! It means Orange~! I named it that cause it’s so orange~! It’s really yummy~!”
      Greece looked confused. “No it’s not! I had one! It was gross!”
      “Did you take the skin off?”
      He paused for a bit. “…Skin…?” He watches as she peeled it for him. The inside was nothing like the rough bitter outside. It was soft and squishy. The juice poured out even if the tiniest tear was made on it. “So I’m supposed to eat this?”
      “Si~!” she replied. He took a bite out of it. It was… It was amazing! It wasn’t like anything they had back at home. It was sweet, almost too sweet, ad juicy too. “Is it good now…?” she asked.
      He nodded. “Yeah… Oranges huh…? C-can I take some back home…?”
     “Yeah sure~! I have too many anyways~! Help yourself~!”
     He smiled warmly. “Th-thank you… What’s your name…?”

     Her smile grew bigger. “I’m Sicilia~! I’m tre anni~!”
     “What?”
     “Three years old~!”
     “Ah… Ok…” He smiled a bit. “And what island is this?”
     “Sicily~!” She exclaimed. “I call it Sicilia though~ It sounds prettier~!”
     "Ah… I see… Do you like cats…?” She stared at him for a bit.
     “What’s a cat…?”
     He gasped. “Great Zeus in the sky!!! You’ve never heard of a cat!!!??? You poor child!!!” He picked her up and took her over to where the ‘Greek Army’ was resting. “Those. Those are cats.”
     Her eyes lit up. “Th-they’re… cosí carino….”
     “What?”
     “So cute.”
     “Ah… Ok… And they are… Cats are so cool…”
     She looked at him curiously. “C-can… can I touch it…?”
     “You wanna pet one? Sure!” He took her over and woke up Artimis. “Hey… Artimis…? Someone wants to meet you…”
     “Mew?”
     “Yes that girl does.” The small cat looked up at her and smiled. She knelt down and pet it a little.
“L-lanuginoso…”
“What?”
“Fluffy.”
“Ah… Ok…”

He watched as she played around with the Armey. She looked so happy, as though it was the firs time she had fun. He thought for a bit as he watched her. “Maybe… Maybe I should listen to mom… Maybe I should take her back home…”
“Mr. Greece!!!” He looked up and saw he running over to him.
“What’s wrong…?”
“Look look look~! I found olives~! We can have a snack~!” He paused for a bit staring at her. She had gotten even dirtier then before she started playing. “Mr. Greece? What’s wrong…?”
“Your hair’s a mess…”He picked her up and sat her by his bag. He took out his comb and began to gently remove all the tangles in her hair. Trying to get the flyaway curl to stay down, he gave up and took out a washcloth. He wiped the dirt off her face and took out a mirror. “There. How does that look…?”
She looked the glass and looked into it. All the dirt was gone, and her hair looked straight and clean. “I… I look pretty…”
He laughed a bit. “Yeah. You do.”

“Captain!” A voice called out. It was one of the crew. “Captain! The ship had to depart!”
Greece looked up. “D-depart…?”
“Captain we have to go! What’s wrong?”
Sicily looked up at Greece. “G-go…? Y-you have to go…?”
He stared back at her for the longest time. “I…. I’ll come back ok…? I… I promise ok…?
“Y-you’re a liar! You’re gunna leave forever! Just like your mom!” She began to cry. “You’re gunna leave me all alone….
Greece pulled her into a hug. “I won’t… I promise… I promise ok…? I’ll come back in seven days… Ok…? I promise…?
She looked up at his green orbs. “P-pinkie promise…?”
Greece smiled. He wrapped his pinkie around her and shook it. “Pinkie promise… Seven days…”
“Sette…”
“What?”
“Seven.”
“Ah… Ok…” He laughed a bit and set her down. “We’re marching out!” The cats all scurried down the hill and over to the beach. Greece headed over, but kept looking back at her. He finally reached the ship and they took off, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t help but stare back.
“Captain? Who was that girl?”
“Sicily” he replied. “She… She’s a country…” He smiled as he kept looking back. “And someone I’ve kept a promise to… And  intend to fulfill it…”