Oscar and Alphonse

It was hard to believe that 48 hours ago the greatest adventure of Elizabeth's life was unknowingly about to begin. Living alone on the family plantation with her father is not a suitable environment for a 13-year-old girl. Perhaps the transition from girl to teen would've gone smoother had her mother still been alive.

Crack! The whip sailed through the air and smacked my best friend flat on the back; his yell could be heard all over the plantation. Father was using him as a demonstration. I hated him, he knew that we were friends and father always punished him.

"He didn't do anything!" I yelled, tears streaming from my eyes. My father cracked the whip again harder this time. Jackson was a slave on a plantation and my closest friend. We had grown up together and his mother took care of me after my mom died. He was a troublemaker, always getting into trouble with father. But this time, this time it was my fault. I had snuck him into the house so that he could eat, but father caught him. Crack! The whip lashed his skin, ripping the flesh of his back.

"It wasn't his fault-". Crack! "Stop it!" I yelled at father. I listened for another crack of the whip, but there was only silence. I opened my eyes and saw father wrapping up the whip. Jackson was covered in blood, showing just how hard father had lashed him. He was shaking terribly and father just stood there, wrapping the whip, watching. I felt my anger well up inside me. "You're a monster! I hate you!" I screamed at him. He continued to watch Jackson; with father, standing there no one would help Jackson. "I hate you!" I screamed again.

"Elizabeth!" he boomed back at me. With his focus on me, Jackson kicked at him. Father was too far away for Jackson to hit him. Fathers' eyebrows furrowed, he had seen. The whip was pulled back again. Not knowing what else to do, I picked up a small, smooth, grey stone and hurled it at my father. It fell short and clattered to the ground, rolling between his legs. He looked down then turned and looked at me. I glared at him. I put all my anger and hate into the words,

"I hate you! I wish you had died too!" I turned and ran from him, the farmhands and slaves. I ran from the houses and the fields. Even as my father called after me, I just ran for the forest. I looked back. I had hurt him. I felt no remorse. I only felt my anger, hate, and sorrow. I crashed through the underbrush, briars and branches catching my simple dress pulling me back. I darted around trees and ducked under a fallen log. Thunder boomed overhead. As the wind picked up and sent the old leaves scattering across the ground, I started to panic. If it began raining, I can get lost and get hurt. Looking for a place to be protected from the rain, the toe of my shoe caught on a branch and sent me falling. I caught myself with my hands. My wrist hurt now but I kept going, looking for shelter. I ran and ran, passing bushes and trees. I couldn't go home, not now, not after what I did. Rains started to pour from the sky making the ground soggy. My shoes were now waterlogged. I jumped over a small branch and within seconds, I began to slide in the wet mud. I couldn't keep my balance and I fell to the ground. Seconds after I got up lightning flashed in the sky revealing a large hollow tree. I ran inside it, I had always been afraid of thunderstorms. I sat down inside taking off my wet shoes. I pressed my knees to my chest and began to cry. Mother had always helped me get through the storms. But mother was gone; the fire had taken her from me. Father somehow managed to get us out, but not mother. Ever since then, father has been distant and cruel. The lightning flashed and the thunder roared overhead. I was no longer angry I was only afraid. I was afraid I would be lost forever.

Elizabeth had been missing for almost 3 hours. The rain was still pouring down and the thunder rolled directly above the plantation. Her father had walked into the forest yelling her name at the top of his lungs. He was worried. A few field hands also yelled for her. He knew that she was afraid of thunderstorms; she had been all of her life. He needed to find her and apologize to her.