The Republic of the South Pacific

This is a cute little story with a moral that I wrote for an assignment~Kara

Once upon a time, the country of Amfort discovered two uninhabited islands in the South Pacific. Because these small islands were rich with natural resources, Amfort claimed them, and sent two of her best navel captains, Smith and Jones, to each colonize an island for trade. It was soon discovered, however, that by some quirk in the geography of the islands, they could not be directly reached by satellite telephone signals. Since it would take a great deal of money to run telephone cables under the ocean, it was arranged that the Amfort would send a boat every year or so with new colonists and much-needed supplies. For the first two years, trade and production were smooth, and the colonies did very well. Unfortunately, their mother country soon got entangled in a war and the colonies were isolated from the mainland by enemy lines. Amfort sent one last instructional message, however, instructing the colonies to continue trading with the reliable surrounding countries, be on guard against invasion by neighboring countries, and await another supply boat very soon. When two years had passed with no communication from the mainland and increasing coldness from the other islands, Jones decided that they were being unfairly used.

“Amfort” he said, “was unfair to dominate their trade and estrange them to the other islands. The colonies had charted, colonized, and cultivated these spits of land themselves, following all of the mainland's requests. It was mean of Amfort to get themselves into a war and desert them, while isolating their colonies from trading with the richer of the surrounding countries.” Jones' own island was, after all, twenty miles long, and he had seen smaller countries. He thus invited his friend and fellow, Smith to join him and his island in succeeding from Amfort.

Smith, in his obstinacy, refused, claiming loyalty to their mother country, pretending small part in the leadership of the islands, and doubting Jones' right to do such a thing.

Jones was indignant. “For who was to know whether Amfort had good cause for entangling herself in this war in the first place, that they should be loyal to her in their trade?” he rationalized, “Smith's sole leadership had led his island thus far so that it hardly mattered which country had founded them. As the authority on the island, he had right to do what seemed good to him.”

The islands were so estranged and separated, and the first of the islands was declared The Republic of the South Pacific. She traded with the rich surrounding countries regardless of their relations with Amfort. Became quite prosperous, she possessed trade relations in sharp contrast with the small stable islands Smith traded with. Now, as the wealth of The Republic of the South Pacific grew, so did her fame, and it soon became known to Amfort that this little colony which she had founded was a major trading hub in its region. But as the famed riches of The Republic of the South Pacific grew, her obliviousness to her surroundings grew with it. Unaware, she became a ripe prize for whomever might seize her first. Many countries deliberated over this, in particular some on her trade route that had seen her prosperity. The Republic of the South Pacific soon struggled against new invaders with little hope.

In the meantime, Amfort had not been idle; in fact, it had been little more than six months since the Republic of the South Pacific was born that Amfort contacted Smith. She had arranged a way to smuggle supples to the islands and had formed a plan for converting to island into an undercover base, which Smith, promoted to a commodore, would oversee. The base would be key to her plan to defeat her enemy.

The country which had moved against the Jones first was one of the most powerful in the area, by coincidence, the very one Amfort was at war with. In addition to that country's ambitious move, there was another nearby island which had been building up influence in The Republic of the South Pacific for quite a while. When an invasion did come, and war broke from the shores, there was then war between not two parties, but three. The soon war-ravaged little country struggled desperately. The war-torn land suffered greatly until it finally fell into the hands of Amfort's enemy. The ragged little country was quickly subdued, her ruler deposed, and the island ruled by a strong dictatorship. Jones, the Commander in Chief of the Republic of the South Pacific, soon sat in a cell, utterly defeated and awaiting his execution. But while Jones suffered, Smith was the highly respected governor of Amfort's chief base in the area.