Midnight Umbreon
Do The Hokey Pokey!
I had to write this story for ELA as a 'research' thing. We were doing research and my teacher hates to lecture, so we did this. I chose the Underground RailRoad. It's not the best, but... R&R, no flaming please. Give suggestions. Just so you know, this story is not meant to be rascist in any way at all.
“ [FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Sold!!” the man announced. My parents were led away like cows to be slaughtered. I hear a whip crack and a scream. I wince. I hang my head, my black dreadlocks swinging down and a tear falls to the ground like a single raindrop. I hate these sales. They’re just ways to make money and get rid of us. I had been sold before with my family. We had all been together until now. That’s a way to make a fourteen-year-old boy depressed.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif] Outside, the snow beat against the window and walls with Jack Frost’s full force on this cold December day. I look out and remember that day when my parents’ were sold to another plantation. It was snowing then too.[/FONT]
“[FONT=Times New Roman, serif][FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]SOLD!!”
[/FONT][/FONT] [FONT=Verdana, sans-serif] I made up my mind, I open the door to this building Master calls ‘The Slave Quarters’ and just run. I did not get anything because if I did I would probably get caught. I was tired of the work; I didn’t want to take care of the wearisome horses anymore. Everyday it was, ‘Feed the horses, do this, do that!’ I was tired of the plain white houses of the plantation. I was tired of the evergreen fields that I hoed, picked and weeded. I was tired of the cold, dark shadow of the master over me all the time.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]
I was tired of this life. I wanted freedom.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Awhile later, after I had run without stopping for about an hour, I had no idea where I was. I was on a snow-covered, dirt path. Trees lined the edges and every now and then a large lump of white snow would fall from a tree. I slowed to a walk and finally stopped. I should have kept running because the momentum of running kept me standing. Slowly, I fell and hit the ground. My hair, once black and hanging down in braids, was covered in snow. I looked up and saw a figure walking toward me with… wings?[/FONT]
“[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Chu doin’ out heyah in da middle of da snow?” it asked.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]
It came closer and turned out to be a lady with two bags over each shoulder. They weren’t wings.[/FONT]
“[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]You got da frostbite.” She wrapped me in a blanket from her bag and I fainted. [/FONT]
When I woke up, I was in a warm bed with many sheets. The walls had paint flaking from rotten wood. A small candle stood on a table giving light to the room.
“[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Mah name’s Harriet Tubman,” said a voice from the shadows of the corner. [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]
“I’m Ben Lacey,” I tell her. The lady wore a green piece of oily cloth on her head.
Her eyes were mournful as though she had lost many friends. She had a row of white hair sticking from beneath her cap.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif] A door somewhere creaked open. Harriet’s eye twitched. A dog barked; the scent of a wet dog…[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]
“Ben, take da winda and go,” Harriet ordered.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]
“What?” I questioned.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]
“I come back for you! Run.”[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]
I got up, warmed back up from my frostbite. I had feeling in my legs again. I walked silently to the window and opened it. I crawled out of it and saw three men and a bloodhound. The men wore green coats and black pants; they looked like they wouldn’t think twice about shooting someone. They rounded the corner and I ran back towards the Johnson Plantation.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif] It’d been two years since Harriet said she’d come back. I wondered if she’d forgotten about me. When I’d got back to the farm that fateful day, I was punished like never before. Thirty-two licks to my back; hurt like mad.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]
A whisper had quickly spread through the camp about ‘Moses, our Saviour’ coming to rescue us from this evil place. I knew it must be Harriet! I got excited and spread the word to the family I had left with me.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif] One night, as the moon was high in the sky, a figure came to the quarters. It wore a green cap and had mournful eyes. It motioned for us to follow it. I walked out of the building and sprinted over. I couldn’t make out who it was because of the dark.[/FONT]
“[FONT=Times New Roman, serif][FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Well, if it isn’t little Ben Lacey that I helped that two years ago!” it whispered happily. It was Harriet! She did come back. “You still look the same! Dem same dreadlocks and ripped clothes. Come on, from now on, we gots to be quite so we don’t get caught.”[/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]
The group nodded and began to follow the lady. We were a motley group with different looking people right and left. We had women, men and a child named Sam. He looked rather scared. His eyes were frightened like a small animal in the murky woods.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]
After a short walk, we came onto a cave and went inside. Some of the men rolled a large rock across the opening.[/FONT]
“[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]We get stuck won’t we?” I asked Harriet.[/FONT]
“[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]You’ll see,” she chuckled.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]
We slept with rocks for pillows; not that I wasn’t used to that by now. When we woke up the next morning, Harriet had been up and was sitting next to a fire, cooking meat.[/FONT]
“[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]How—” Harriet, holding up two sticks and grinning like a maniac cut me off.
“Oh.”[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]
She motioned to a hole in the roof that I hadn’t noticed before.[/FONT]
“[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]We goin’ thoo theya!”[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]
I climbed up onto another young man’s shoulders and then climbed out of the hole and into the fresh air. Outside, the snow was beginning to fall again. Most things were still white with snow but they were being freshened up with new snow.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]
After everyone was out of the cave, we began to continue north. Harriet led the way. We had walked for about a mile when we heard gunfire. Everyone looked up and saw a man standing not far away.[/FONT]
“[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Run,” Harriet said urgently. Another bullet was fired and George fell down, screaming in agony. George was an old man that Harriet had picked up at a different I turned around and saw the flash of the gun being fired a third time. The bullet whizzed past my ear almost hitting my head. I picked up George and ran. I was considerably slowed by the weight of the old man, but I still got away and down the hill of the cave.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]
We found bushes, trees and other places to hide in. The man must have been a bounty hunter. He would pass our tree and look up at us. He never saw us but his eyes in the oncoming darkness made him look possessed. The child, Sam, would close his eyes and start breathing heavy. I would put my hand over his mouth to keep him from screaming.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]
By the time the man left and went somewhere else to look for us. We all emerged from our hiding and rushed to George. He was almost gone. Harriet came over and pulled bandages out of her bag.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]
After we were done with patching him all up, Harriet decided that we should try to keep going and reach the slave house up ahead. We walked for about an hour trudging through mud mixed with snow. [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]
We reached a house that had a lantern hanging on the porch. It was a large house, it’s color that of the snow. In the windows, the light flickered and smoke came from the chimney. They had a fire, a nice warm fire. We went to the door and Harriet knocked. The door opened and the smell of freshly baked apple pie came wafting through to us.[/FONT]
“[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Harriet,” the man said. He was wearing a pair of flannel pants and a long-sleeve shirt. “We were expecting you. The room’s ready and we made some pie just for you.”[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]
Harriet nodded. “Thank you! We need to get in quick; we have a hunter following us.”[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]
The man motioned for us to come inside. We followed him to a cupboard positioned above the stairs. He reached up and slid the shelves back to reveal a room with blankets on the floor and a dark, wood shelf with food on it.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif] When we had all crawled inside and gotten settled, his wife brought us some more blankets, saying, “In case you needed them.”[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif] She came back later bringing us bandages and other first aid items. We couldn’t do anything about George now; it was his time to go. He was old and decrepit anyway. We just let him rest.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]
Later, we woke up and made our way from the room. We reached the kitchen; we said our goodbyes and left them, making our way north.[/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman, serif][FONT=Verdana, sans-serif] We’ve traveled for two days since leaving the house. Harriet says we’re in New Hampshire now. We’re almost free![/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]
We only have a few more miles and we’ll be in Canada, the land of the free.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif] We’re now at the border of Canada, there are men guarding it.[/FONT]
“[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]We gots to sneak pas’ dem. If we do, we be free.” Harriet whispers to us. When it’s dark, we gather up a pile of sticks. We take two of them and rub them together making it spark. We drop it onto the pile starting a huge fire.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif] The guards at the border all ran over to see what had happened. By the time they had reached the fire we were running across the border. We were free![/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif] Since we crossed the border of Canada, we’ve built a house that was large enough for us all to fit in. When Harriet goes back to get more runaways, we house them at our ‘runaway house’ until they have time to build their own. We have bought chickens, cows, and other farm animals so that we can supply our own food and milk.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]
We’re happy now and don’t have to work for our white masters! We add on every day to our homestead and now, we now have about two hundred acres of land that runaways can stay on.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]
This is our story and our happy ending.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif].::R.u.n::.[/FONT]
“ [FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Sold!!” the man announced. My parents were led away like cows to be slaughtered. I hear a whip crack and a scream. I wince. I hang my head, my black dreadlocks swinging down and a tear falls to the ground like a single raindrop. I hate these sales. They’re just ways to make money and get rid of us. I had been sold before with my family. We had all been together until now. That’s a way to make a fourteen-year-old boy depressed.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]* * *[/FONT]
“[FONT=Times New Roman, serif][FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]SOLD!!”
[/FONT][/FONT] [FONT=Verdana, sans-serif] I made up my mind, I open the door to this building Master calls ‘The Slave Quarters’ and just run. I did not get anything because if I did I would probably get caught. I was tired of the work; I didn’t want to take care of the wearisome horses anymore. Everyday it was, ‘Feed the horses, do this, do that!’ I was tired of the plain white houses of the plantation. I was tired of the evergreen fields that I hoed, picked and weeded. I was tired of the cold, dark shadow of the master over me all the time.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]
I was tired of this life. I wanted freedom.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]* * *[/FONT]
“[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Chu doin’ out heyah in da middle of da snow?” it asked.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]
It came closer and turned out to be a lady with two bags over each shoulder. They weren’t wings.[/FONT]
“[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]You got da frostbite.” She wrapped me in a blanket from her bag and I fainted. [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]* * *[/FONT]
“[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Mah name’s Harriet Tubman,” said a voice from the shadows of the corner. [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]
“I’m Ben Lacey,” I tell her. The lady wore a green piece of oily cloth on her head.
Her eyes were mournful as though she had lost many friends. She had a row of white hair sticking from beneath her cap.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif] A door somewhere creaked open. Harriet’s eye twitched. A dog barked; the scent of a wet dog…[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]
“Ben, take da winda and go,” Harriet ordered.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]
“What?” I questioned.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]
“I come back for you! Run.”[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]
I got up, warmed back up from my frostbite. I had feeling in my legs again. I walked silently to the window and opened it. I crawled out of it and saw three men and a bloodhound. The men wore green coats and black pants; they looked like they wouldn’t think twice about shooting someone. They rounded the corner and I ran back towards the Johnson Plantation.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]* * *[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]
A whisper had quickly spread through the camp about ‘Moses, our Saviour’ coming to rescue us from this evil place. I knew it must be Harriet! I got excited and spread the word to the family I had left with me.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif] One night, as the moon was high in the sky, a figure came to the quarters. It wore a green cap and had mournful eyes. It motioned for us to follow it. I walked out of the building and sprinted over. I couldn’t make out who it was because of the dark.[/FONT]
“[FONT=Times New Roman, serif][FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Well, if it isn’t little Ben Lacey that I helped that two years ago!” it whispered happily. It was Harriet! She did come back. “You still look the same! Dem same dreadlocks and ripped clothes. Come on, from now on, we gots to be quite so we don’t get caught.”[/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]
The group nodded and began to follow the lady. We were a motley group with different looking people right and left. We had women, men and a child named Sam. He looked rather scared. His eyes were frightened like a small animal in the murky woods.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]
After a short walk, we came onto a cave and went inside. Some of the men rolled a large rock across the opening.[/FONT]
“[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]We get stuck won’t we?” I asked Harriet.[/FONT]
“[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]You’ll see,” she chuckled.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]
We slept with rocks for pillows; not that I wasn’t used to that by now. When we woke up the next morning, Harriet had been up and was sitting next to a fire, cooking meat.[/FONT]
“[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]How—” Harriet, holding up two sticks and grinning like a maniac cut me off.
“Oh.”[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]
She motioned to a hole in the roof that I hadn’t noticed before.[/FONT]
“[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]We goin’ thoo theya!”[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]
I climbed up onto another young man’s shoulders and then climbed out of the hole and into the fresh air. Outside, the snow was beginning to fall again. Most things were still white with snow but they were being freshened up with new snow.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]
After everyone was out of the cave, we began to continue north. Harriet led the way. We had walked for about a mile when we heard gunfire. Everyone looked up and saw a man standing not far away.[/FONT]
“[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Run,” Harriet said urgently. Another bullet was fired and George fell down, screaming in agony. George was an old man that Harriet had picked up at a different I turned around and saw the flash of the gun being fired a third time. The bullet whizzed past my ear almost hitting my head. I picked up George and ran. I was considerably slowed by the weight of the old man, but I still got away and down the hill of the cave.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]
We found bushes, trees and other places to hide in. The man must have been a bounty hunter. He would pass our tree and look up at us. He never saw us but his eyes in the oncoming darkness made him look possessed. The child, Sam, would close his eyes and start breathing heavy. I would put my hand over his mouth to keep him from screaming.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]
By the time the man left and went somewhere else to look for us. We all emerged from our hiding and rushed to George. He was almost gone. Harriet came over and pulled bandages out of her bag.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]
After we were done with patching him all up, Harriet decided that we should try to keep going and reach the slave house up ahead. We walked for about an hour trudging through mud mixed with snow. [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]
We reached a house that had a lantern hanging on the porch. It was a large house, it’s color that of the snow. In the windows, the light flickered and smoke came from the chimney. They had a fire, a nice warm fire. We went to the door and Harriet knocked. The door opened and the smell of freshly baked apple pie came wafting through to us.[/FONT]
“[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Harriet,” the man said. He was wearing a pair of flannel pants and a long-sleeve shirt. “We were expecting you. The room’s ready and we made some pie just for you.”[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]
Harriet nodded. “Thank you! We need to get in quick; we have a hunter following us.”[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]
The man motioned for us to come inside. We followed him to a cupboard positioned above the stairs. He reached up and slid the shelves back to reveal a room with blankets on the floor and a dark, wood shelf with food on it.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif] When we had all crawled inside and gotten settled, his wife brought us some more blankets, saying, “In case you needed them.”[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif] She came back later bringing us bandages and other first aid items. We couldn’t do anything about George now; it was his time to go. He was old and decrepit anyway. We just let him rest.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]
Later, we woke up and made our way from the room. We reached the kitchen; we said our goodbyes and left them, making our way north.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]* * *[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]
We only have a few more miles and we’ll be in Canada, the land of the free.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif] * * *[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif] We’re now at the border of Canada, there are men guarding it.[/FONT]
“[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]We gots to sneak pas’ dem. If we do, we be free.” Harriet whispers to us. When it’s dark, we gather up a pile of sticks. We take two of them and rub them together making it spark. We drop it onto the pile starting a huge fire.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif] The guards at the border all ran over to see what had happened. By the time they had reached the fire we were running across the border. We were free![/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]* * *[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]
We’re happy now and don’t have to work for our white masters! We add on every day to our homestead and now, we now have about two hundred acres of land that runaways can stay on.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]
This is our story and our happy ending.[/FONT]
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