IN THE LAND OF CAPO PART II

This is the second in the series of make believe stories about the Land of Capo.

The lands of Capo and Aspson were involved in a civil war. The armies of both countries were involved in deadly combat, as each fought fiercely to defend its borders. Many soldiers and civilians were killed fighting to defend their country. The people of Capo wanted to be separate from Aspson. They strongly believed that the civil war was due to the inappropriate actions of the King of Aspson, who had declared himself King of Capo. They felt betrayed by him because his actions showed he gave preferential treatment to the people of Aspson. They also felt that he was expropriating Capo's resources. Caponians believe that Capo was financially depleted because of support given to Aspson. They blamed the Aspsonians for throwing their once peaceful country in uproar and war. They felt justified in the assassination of the King of Aspson, because he declared himself to be their king, much against their will.

The people of Aspson blamed the people of Capo for killing their King. The believed that Capo was selfish and did not want to share their wealth and as a result they killed their King. They were angry and wanted revenge. They believed that the people of Capo initially thought that if they took over their country they could manage it more effectively and in the process become more wealthy. They wanted to explore the natural resources of diamonds, gold and other precious metals that was found in Aspson. It was argued that Aspson was not exploiting its land for its natural resources; instead it remained poor because it wanted to preserve its wilderness and grasslands.

As the war rages between both countries, Capo whose army was more organized,stronger and more resourceful, showed signs of winning the war. They set up blockades to inhibit any interactions between the civilians from both countries. The people of Aspson wanted to have their king buried in their country, this became a logistical nightmare for them as they could not successfully coordinate the transfer. This further served to anger the people of Aspson. The Aspsonian army pushed forward, using many techniques to attack the land of Capo, they learned that they were no match for the strong Caponian army.

As the people became angrier and incidents of unrests increased, the armies had to develop means of controls and to stem the unrest among its citizens. Citizens were no longer free to travel within or outside each country. Everyone had to show identification and even with proper identification it was not guaranteed that they would be allowed to travel about. This caused tremendous hardship for people who lived outside their homeland and wanted to return home. Many of the people who moved to Capo could not get back to their homeland, Aspson. They felt trapped in Capo, some without any means to support themselves. Soon Capo, a land that did not have vagrants, was swarmed with panhandlers on the streets, begging for food. As a result, the army implemented a curfew. Anyone who was caught on the street without the proper documentations would be thrown in jail until they could prove their identification.

The army marched up and down the streets all day and night, as they enforced the curfew. They people of the lands of Capo and Aspson were intimidated and could not leave their homes. The only persons that were allowed to leave their homes were nurses and doctors who had to tend to the injured soldiers.They felt like they were under house arrest. Many could not find food and soon riots were erupting in the neighbourhoods. The people fought over the small morsels of food that was provided for each family. Those who were not in their homeland, felt that they were treated poorly. They felt that they were given less because they were not citizens of the country. They felt like they did not have any rights. They felt that the army treated them more harshly, even though they did nothing wrong. It was rumoured that the Asponian army denied famous Caponian citizens being released from Aspson as they wanted to use them as bargaining chips when the time was right.

After much debate, the armies of Aspson and Capo decided that they had to do something about the increasing unrest among the prisoners in both countries. They decided to extradite all prisoners to their homeland. The extradition was to be completed within three months. After that time, anyone who refused to go home would face death. During this exchange, any persons who were banished from either country could return to their homeland without negative consequences. This decision was satisfactory for the people who volunteered to return to their homeland. The people who refused were threatened with deportation. This strategy worked and almost all citizens returned to their respective land. Some semblance of peace was returning to the lands of Capo and Aspson.

A meeting was organized between the leaders of both countries. They would meet in Capo to discuss the future of both countries as sovereign nations. They would also discuss trade and immigration matters. This meeting was set to take place on the anniversary of the death of the Flower King. It would be held for a duration of three days. Both countries set about deciding who they would send to the meeting to represent their mandate.

As the anniversary of the death of the Flower King was imminent, the palace was shrouded in complete darkness as a sign that the light of their favourite King had faded forever. It represented their sadness of the lost of their favourite King. The only light flickered from the gate. It showed the emblem and sculpture of the Flower King. The people of the village placed flowers which became a mountain of colourful tribute to the Flower King.

At midnight on the anniversary of the death of the Flower King, gun salutes could be heard coming from the palace. The people of Capo hurried from their homes and headed to the palace. They gathered in front of the palace, which was now flooded in multi-coloured lights. Melodious music of harps,trumpets, drums and cymbals filled the night. The people cheered as the marching bands paraded up and down the street in front of the palace. The people of Capo were delighted. They were very excited as they looked on with great anticipation as if they expected to see the Flower King himself returning from the dead.

Then the music stopped. There was dead silence; you could hear a pin drop. The people held their breaths as if their breathing would disturb the quietness. Even little children were still as if they also anticipated that something magnificent was going to happen. The silence was so thick; you could cut it with a knife. Then a single trumpet sound pierced the silence and a voice announced: "Introducing Queen of the people of Capo!"

The people were in shock. They could not believe what they were hearing. The voice continued "Announcing the first Queen who will rule over Capo. She is a Queen who was born in the land of Capo. She is a queen who understands Capo's history. She is a queen who will bring us prosperity again, a queen who will help us to rebuild our land."

The people started to whisper among themselves, their voices getting louder and louder as they wondered out loud who was their queen.

The sound of trumpets got louder, so the people became quiet again. Then a voice boomed: "Introducing Queen Yappy of Capo!"

The people were overcome with joy and happiness. They were dancing and shouting in the streets. They cheered:

"Welcome home Queen Yappy!

You will make us again happy.

We love you so."

They were filled with love and excitement; they hugged each other dancing merrily in the streets.

Then there was a hush as Queen Yappy addressed the people:

"Fellow people of Capo, I accept your warm welcome with much gratitude and love. I love this land, its people, its hills, its valleys, it rivers and everything in Capo. I missed your smiling faces as well as your melodious voices. I missed the familiar smell of the flowers and the sight of the beautiful colours that Capo is know for. I missed the familiar re-assurance of home and all things that Capo represents. I am glad to be back home; home where I belong. This land will be strong again; it will be joyful again; it will be wealthy and clean again. Peace has returned to Capo and the Flower King would rejoice in our survival. So lets celebrate the life of our beloved Flower King. Lets celebrate Capo, our land; the land we love."

Yappy placed her left hand on her heart and raised her right hand above her head and shouted:

"We will remember the Flower King!"

The people repeated "We will remember you Flower King" as they touched their hearts and raised their hands in salute.

"Tonight will serve as a reminder of our freedom!" Yappy declared.

Soon tables of the most delicious foods were wheeled out on the streets to the people. The people ate the delicious foods and danced for the rest of the night. The people of Capo were delighted. They were tired of being housebound, living on rations provided by the army. They wanted their old Capo back. They wanted the land to be clean, beautiful and free of conflicts.They wanted freedom!

Meanwhile in the land of Aspson, there was much gloom. A leader had not been chosen and so the country was still under military rule. The son of the assassinated King of Capo and Aspson reluctantly announced himself as King of Aspson. He immediately declared Capo their enemy and vowed to take revenge on its people for murdering his father. The young King despised any moderate viewpoint about reconciliation. He was filled with vengeance and hate for Capo and its people. He chose advisors whose philosophy was of hate and retribution. He took counsel with those who wanted war. His advisors were all determined to take revenge on Capo. They plotted against Capo.

In Capo, Queen Yappy and the people set about the business of returning to good order and governance. The people were very happy. They planted flowers all over the land. Everywhere you looked, there were beautiful flowers, which grew all over the land in all the colours of the rainbow. Capo became the flower capital of the world.

See also The Land of Capo Part I