Asterix 2073

"We're writing the year 2073 AD. The whole world is occupied by the United States of America. The whole world? No, the inhabitants of a little village in Central Europe fight back the intruders."
As I read the beginning of the book, I laughed. Somebody had written a book about us. It would be funny, if it wasn't true.
The name of our village is Little Heaven, but in reality it's the opposite. Not a single inhabitant is a normal human being. Everyone is a bit strange.
Me, for example, I died a year before my own birth, but I'm living. One could say, I'm a born corpse. And I'm a harmless one. Some of our people are real monsters.
We fight the USA since I'm living and longer. It's not easy, but thanks to our monsters it works tolerably. The Yanks leave us alone and we stay in the village. I think, they're afraid of us.
My brother Zwi came in and said just one word: "Yanks." Then he left as fast as his leg allowed.
Zwi is one of our monsters. He's a kind of Frankenstein's Monster, but he's born that way. He has the arms of a scorpion, a stag's body and a human head and leg. The second leg is a rhino's. If he appears, the Yanks start to scream.
I lay this silly book away and followed him.
As I left the house, I saw the catastrophe. The Americans had come into the village. Before, they never dared to do so. What had happened?
Their uniforms were speckled with blood. But it was not theirs. It was green one, the blood of the tree men. These damned Yanks had killed or hurt our living trees, the oldest and wisest beings of the world!
Without thinking, I attacked a group of them. While we fought, I heard a scream:
"Runa, attention!"
I ducked and saw a bullet flying through the air. When I turned around, I saw an American soldier, pointing the gun at me.
He was young, perhaps at my age. Why was he in the army? I could tell that it was not voluntarily.
Ignoring the battle around us, I walked towards him and took away his weapon. He didn't protest anyway. Instead, he smiled.
We both knew that we wouldn't fight any longer.
Still ignoring the battle, we left the village. We sat down under a group of trees and talked.
I told Brian all about our village and my life, he told me about his life and the reason for the attack.
I was shocked. Obviously the American president had decided to wipe out Little Heaven. If this plan worked, it would be the end of the magical beings. We are the last free ones.
We had to stop this plan of the complete world domination.
As I told Brian my plan, he hesitated.  I didn't like the idea as well, but did we have any choice?
We waited two hours, until night fall. The battle went on without a foreseeable end. Then we went back into the village.
Once, somebody tried to kill Brian, and I was shot twice. Nevertheless, we walked straight forward. We reached the market place and started phase one of the plan.
He pretended to shoot at me and I screamed:
"Stop that, you American bastard! You can't kill me, I'm a corpse!"
Suddenly, it was silent. We had the attention of everyone. Fine. Now we could start phase two. Brian answered quietly:
"I didn't want to kill you. I hate killing people. I just want to finish this silly and unnecessary war."
Before I could continue the plan, Zwi came to us and said:
"You're a reasonable young man. I agree with you. We all should care for the end of the war. If we all stick together, we can bring it to an end. this war between Americans and magical beings is senseless. We can live peacefully next to each other, as humans and animals did for eons."
When he stopped, there was silence. Then some people started to applaud. They were both, American and magical. After several moments everybody except Brian and me applauded. We stood there speechlessly and watched this strange scene.
Our plan worked, although we hadn't finished it. My elder brother had understood our intention, although he didn't know anything about it. There must be a special connection between us, there is no other explanation for this.
The leaders of the Americans and Little Heaven sat together in the Chief's cottage. While they negotiated, nothing happened. We all stood in front of the biggest house of the village. After hours they came out and our mayor said:
"The war is over. We agreed on a final armistice. Little heaven will be part of the USA, but we will be autonomous and care for ourselves. As a service in return, the USA will supply us with food and all the essential stuff. So in the end, our live will be better."
The American general added:
"Besides, there will be negotiations about a government for the whole world, that is elected by every occupant over the age of 18. So the USA will not occupy the world anymore."
There was silence, followed by loud rejoicing. The people embraced each other and started to celebrate the end of the horrible war.
I looked at Brian and smiled. I knew his thoughts, just from watching him. We thought exactly the same.
The war was over and we all could start a new life. And it was a quiet agreement that Brian would move to Little Heaven. If we're old enough, we will marry, that was clear.
I wonder whether I can imagine a life without being attacked every now and then. It won't be easy, but I think, I'll manage it. All in all, I have a big help: a normal human friend.