KASAO

11

KASAO COULDN'T CONTAIN her happiness. She wished she could hasten time and night would come as quickly as possible and she'd escape with Twelve.
She had cleared her portion of land almost perfectly and no command was shouted at her as it was accustomed. She was even among the firsts to finish clearing. She was in full energy.

It was with this same energy she went back the the slaves' quarters. She wanted so much to tell Twelve about her plan and how they would be free soon. She imagined him asking her to marry him as soon as they were free and then start their own family. She didn't know how they'd live but she was willing to take any job once she was free.

When Kasao got to the clearing where slaves were kept, her energy decreased. Twelve wasn't in the clearing. The others slaves left behind were in their same positions but Twelve wasn't.
She waited until their buyers left before she shifted to a girl nearest to her.
"Have you by chance seen Twelve?" She had asked.
The girl shook her head negatively and Kasao noticed the girl was new so she shifted to her other side and asked the man if he had seen Twelve.
"I do not know where he is" The man simply replied and lay down.

"You haven't seen him at all Today?" Kasao pressed.

"Ah, After your group left, he was taken away by our owners. Maybe for work. I have not seen him since then" The man closed his eyes, clearly dismissing the discussion.

Kasao shifted back to her space and waited. She waited for Twelve but he never came back.

When the day grew dark, Kasao couldn't hold herself. Twelve hadn't been returned and their independence was near. She would desperately sit up whenever she heard footsteps and hoped it was Twelve but it was never Twelve.

The other slaves took pity on her. Down their hearts, they knew Twelve would never come back but they weren't in the right position to tell her so they kept their mouths shut.
But they talked among themselves.
"How dare one fall in love in a situation like this when one of the two can get sold at anytime?" One of them asked rhetorically.

"I have always known it wouldn't go well" Another from behind the group whispered as they all looked at Kasao who was desperately looking at the entrance to the clearing.

"We have to tell her" One who had taken pity on Kasao advised the others.

"Tell her what?" Another countered.

"That Twelve would never come back"

"How sure are we?"

"We can't. It would hurt her"

"But she would hurt anyways"

"We do not know if Twelve would return"

"He would not"
They argued till night fell while Kasao hoped for Twelve's return.

Kasao was wide awake. She was still waiting for Twelve to return before the worker came to free them. The thought of Twelve's disappearance outweighed her joy of a freedom. She couldn't bring herself to sleep and whenever she dozed off, she'd wake startled and reach for Twelve but he was never there.
"Twelve" she'd whisper and get no reply.
Deep down, she knew what had happened to Twelve but she wanted it buried while she hoped he came back.

Kasao jumped when she heard footsteps and called "Twelve?" but a hushing sound shut her and she hurriedly sat up, scratching her back on the bare floor. She couldn't contain the joy that Twelve was back.

"Where have you been?" Kasao whispered.

"I waited till everyone slept"
Kasao's heart broke as she heard the new worker's voice. He had come to set her free and Twelve wasn't back.

"Twelve is not here"
The worker didn't say a word as he cut her loose and pulled her out of the clearing. When they had ran a little distance from the clearing, she stopped.

"Do you know where Twelve is?" She asked the worker, refusing to move if he didn't answer her.

"I do not know"

"Do you think he was sold?" She pushed.

"He was bought so it's possible" The man stated.

"Do you think..." She started another question, trying so hard to erase the guilt of escaping without him.

"My thoughts doesn't matter. Are you leaving or not?" The worker was clearly irritated.

Kasao knew the reason he wanted her gone wasn't because he wanted to help her but it was to get his payment.
She dug into her cloth and pulled out the necklace.

"Go that way" He pointed to a road with one hand as he collected the jewel with the other.

"And run" He added.

Without anything more to say, Kasao ran into the thick darkness ahead. She ran as fast as her legs could run and swallowed back any tears that threatened to spill.

"I did not abandon Twelve" She chanted in her heart as she ran.