Slave Life

No Path to Follow , Nowhere to Go

     My parents were killed, and I didn't know what to do.Bobby was 3 and I was just 11. We were alone, afraid, and probably still being looked for by the bounty hunters. I thought that would be the end of us , but then I remembered what my momma told me. "Go for the things you want most and never look back." Those words are the words that made me realize I wanted freedom and to get freedom I had to keep fight. We had a lot left in us and I wasn't about to let some low life bounty hunters take away our futures. We wanted a safe home, a home where we lived freely and where we weren't considered property.

     The hunters appeared below , looking all around, trying to find us. I had a plan. When they turned around and wandered off again , I climbed down the tree, grabbed my sling shot from a blanket on the floor, and grabbed two huge rocks. I climbed back up the tree where my little brother was and readied myself. One of the hunters came back right below us and I fired a rock at his head. It hit him and blood started flowing. He fell to the ground and for the first time that day, I had a small smile on my face. The other hunter soon reappeared and I aimed my second rock. I got him too. Bobby had a small, and weak smile on his face and I climbed back down the tree. I didn't know if they were dead or alive, but I wouldn't mind if they were dead. I approached the bodies and poked them with a stick. No movement. I dragged their bodies to a deeper part of the river and let them float down in the current. We were free again, but our parents were dead. We were alone in the forest with no one to look after us. I took Bobby's tear-stained face in my hands , " Listen to me Bobby momma and daddy may be gone, but I'm right here, and I won't let anything happen to you. We're going to find a home and we're going to be free, I promise."

   

     I guided Bobby down the tree and went to examine the bodies of my parents. They were the only ones in this world that I loved .My momma and daddy had died living a life of abuse and cruelty. I looked at them again, bruised faces, cut up arms, and broken hearts.They took care of my brother and I up until the moment their lives were taken away by bounty hunters. My momma died with tears on her face, holding daddy's hand. I wiped her last tears away. Bobby then layed down in our momma's arms. "Momma, please wake up, I need you" , he said. He hadn't stopped crying since we heard the gunshots and neither had I. "I'll miss you momma and daddy, I'll look over Bobby, thank you for everything", I whispered. After Bobby fell asleep, I picked him up and set him down on a soft pile of leaves while I went to say my final goodbyes. I took my momma's bracelet and my daddy's special necklace and put the necklace on myself and the bracelet on Bobby. I kissed them one last time and put rose petals all around the them. I drew crosses on their forheads with ash, and woke Bobby up. I didn't want to stay their with yet some more painful memories. We gathered some food, clothes, and blankets from the tree houses and left.

    I tried to stay calm and comfort Bobby as much as I could. We walked and walked until we came to the of the river. The water was cleaner down here and the moons light reflected off of it. It also had a cave where we could sleep in. It gave me hope. I wrapped Bobby in a blanket and told him everything was going to be ok, the sad part is I didn't know if everything would be okay. I sang him a song our momma used to sing to us:

As you grow older you learn new things

Baby promise me you'll follow your dreams

I'll be here even if the sun doesn't shine

I'll be here til the end of time

I love you , you're one of a kind

I'll be you're angel and you'll be mineee

I fell asleep , remembering that my momma would always be there for us, that she would be there to guide us home and since we didn't have a home she would help us find one.

 

   I woke up the next morning with a vague memory of what had happened yesterday,  but then it hit me. My parents and friends had been killed and now Bobby and I were alone. I quickly shook the thought out of my head and set out to find breakfast. I left Bobby sleeping in the cave and walked slowly and quietly into the forest. I looked for anything that seemed edible, and then I saw that birds were eating berries off a small bush. They must be safe to eat. The berries were small, oval, and red. I didn't know what kind they were but if it would satisfy our hunger for a few hours then it was worth it. I walked back to the cave , only to find that my little brother wasn't there. I burst into tears and dropped the berries. I ran around the river searching and searching until I saw Bobby struggling in the water. He didn't know how to swim. Why would he go in , in the first place.I ran into the water and grabbed my little brother.I got him to the shore , but he wasn't breathing. I didn't know what to do . My instincts kicked in and I started pushing up and down on his chest. He started coughing and I knew he would be okay. "Don't you ever scare me like that again", I told him. "I'm sorry", he said. "Bobby, why did you go into the water? You know you can't swim." He wiped the water drops away from his face and responded," I saw momma in the water."

    He saw momma in the water, his words kept running through my mind. Before I left the tree houses I had asked momma to never leave us. Bobby had seen her in the water and I knew momma had heard my plea. She was watching over Bobby and I, for the first time since their deaths, I smiled.