Freedom

Entry 1 Kobe, we going hunting. I told my little brother. Okay, brother, what about mother? He replied Well let her rest. My brother and I worked as hunters in our family; we are also part of a wonderful tribe, whom of which takes care of each other. My brother is younger than me, he is 10 and Im 16, my name is Trey his is Kobe. Our father passed away 3 months before Kobe was born, our mother said he was killed while hunting, but others say he was taken. In the past 2 months our mother has gotten sick and shes shown no sign of recovery, our tribes doctor said that she doesnt have a lot of time left on this earth, so we try to spend as much time as possible with our dear mother. Mother, were going hunting. I told my mother. Okay.. she coughed be careful and take care of Kobe. I will. My brother and I left, before we had left, our tribe leader stopped us and told us to be careful, he said that hes been hearing stories of our people being taken by strange white men. Weve heard stories about this but I never thought it was true, I thought it was a myth. We walked about 1 mile, then we saw a herd of antelopes. Perfect prey My brother said smiling. Yeah it is, search for the weakest one, thats the one well get I told my little brother. He aimed his bow and arrow searching for his prey. Found Him.

He had hit an antelope, the animal went down immediately, and the rest of the herd ran. Nice hit. I hugged him. Thanks. We walked toward the antelope, but before we even reached the dead animal we saw shadows building up in the Horizon. The shadows began to form human shapes and as they were getting closer they looked like warriors and they began to run toward us. Run! I yelled. We started running back to the tribe, we were terrified. We got to our tribe and it was complete chaos, there were slave traders grabbing my people and putting them in chains, the stories were true. We saw our mother and we ran towards her, but before we reached her we were dropped and they chained my little brother and I up. They put us men on one side and the woman on the other. Our mother looked at us in terror, we didnt know what to expect. My brother began to cry, so did I. They stood all the men up and made us walk North; I turned around to see a massacre. They were killing the weak woman; my mother was part of it. I ran back, but they stopped me and began to beat me. They dragged me for a long time. They made me stand up in walk and all I saw was the terrible image of my mother. We kept walking for days, some of our tribe members began to die of starvation and thirst. I held on with my little brother. We finally reached this big building, they took us in and we walked straight into hell. The slave traders were calling it a slave fortress. I held on to my little brother and they threw us in a cell with at least 100 people, we could barely move. I didnt know what was going to happen. Entry 2 We were in that place for weeks, we hardly made It through that hell hole. We were placed in a cell with at least 100 captured people, we could barely move, it was too crowded. My brother was terrified and didnt know what was going on.

Are we going to be okay? he asked trembling. I dont know. I responded. Its just me and you know, we have to take care of each other. What about mother? Shes gone. I began to cry. The cells suddenly opened and I held my brother tightly. They began to line us up and they began to take us out. I told my brother to stay close I didnt want to lose him to. They took us out the building in chains and thats when I saw the ship, we were going in the ship ! When we got on the ship, stay close, dont lose me.I told Kobe. Try not to make it seem like we are related, they might separate us. Okay. We walked onto the ship, I stepped on a paper and I picked it up, it had some sort of weird letters, they were MIDDLE PASSAGE and it had a drawing of what seemed to be a map. Then I saw the slave traders receiving weapons and goods, they were giving them us for weapons. We were finally on the ship, they put me and my brother on the top floor, we were told to squat. Where are we going? My little brother asked. I wish I couldve answered his question It had been 2 moths that we had spent on the ship, they hardly fed us and weve been sitting in the same position forever, and they cleaned us up once every 2 weeks. I took good care of my brother making sure nothing happened to him, he told me that one of the people on the ship was talking about a revolt, he didnt know what it meant, neither did I but I figured it was something big . The next day there was a lot of commotion, a lot of the slaves tried to fight back and they killed a couple of guards but they didnt over take the ship, they were killed afterwards. 1 week later we finally reached land, but where? Entry 3

When we got to land we were taken into this place were they took care of us and fed us. I though that this was our last stop. We were than taken to a stage in front of white men, my brother stuck with me the whole time. We were sold to a white man and they took us to there home. They told us about a plantation, we didnt know what it was. They spoke in a weird language. When we got there they pointed at men with weapons and called them overseers. They told me that I would be working outside on the crops while my little brother will be working inside. Whatever you do, listen to the white man. Dont disobey orders. I love you Kobe. I told my little brother. I dont wont to work for them, they treat us like this because were a different color. Mother didnt die for this. He replied. Its not our fault, theres nothing I can do. We lived like this for months, we heard about 2 men named Harriet Tubman and Frederick Douglass helping slaves escape through this map called the Underground Railroad. It seemed like a good idea, I thought about it but I didnt want to do it, I didnt want to risk my little brothers life. Brother, the other slaves are talking about an abolition going on. Kobe told me. I know Ive heard. I replied. Look were going to escape, tonight Ive talked to other slaves and we will tonight. Really? Where will we go? I dont know, but there are safe houses we can get to and stay safe. Okay brother. Night came. Not know if we were going to survive, not knowing where we were headed but our journey began for freedom.

Reflection: This is a short-story I had to write in the 8th grade for my U.S. History Class. I had to write a story in a first person view of how it was like to be a slave, from being on the slave ship to getting to America. While I was writing this, I learned a lot about what slaves had to go through back then, it was very difficult to think and imagine myself as a slave back then. This story is my favorite that I have written.