one_eye_of_freedom

One Eye of Freedom

Disgust mixed in with anguish ran through my body as the sharp hiss of a whip
sounded through the air. Next thing I knew, that twisted snake of leather bit into
my back. No place was left for me. All around me stretched farmland filled with
cotton plants. Swiftly, my legs carried me across the open fields. My blistering hands
latched onto my little wooden hut's wall. Plantation owners said I had no freedom,
and I didn't. At least I was dismissed from today's task of picking cotton. Like a
feather drifting down to earth, I warily slumped down to the mahogany muddy
ground. This was my life, the life of a twelve year old girl who was called Star.
Swaying with the wind, I looked up hopefully only to see the menacing eye of the
sun.

Sunlight came rushing into my wide open eyes. Could it be morning, already?
Pictures moved rapidly in my head just last night, a dream. Horrified feelings
settled down into calm, tranquil feelings. People with dark skin, like me (or any
other slave I ever saw) sang a soothing hymn. Struggling to recall what it was
about was almost impossible, like catching water in a net. Something about
The Underground Railroad and The North Star. Drowsily I walked past a group
of slaves talking about some Underground Railroad. How strange, they referred
to it as an invisible trail. A trail you couldn't see? Now filled with curiosity, I
began to eavesdrop. They continued on talking, I heard them clearly say that
some day they would all take the hazardous risk of escaping on it. So, I
learned it was a passage made of the earth and your luck leading up to the
North. Maybe, I should leave tonight with just me, myself, and nobody else.
If this Underground Railroad led by The North Star was truly perilous, I would
go on my own. Yes, tonight would work just fine, and soon I was suffused in
the moonlight running away.

Cautiously, I crept underneath a navy quilt adorned with stars. You wouldn't
think I would enjoy something like this. Something so terrifying, but the sky was
so beautiful. Far off in the distance up on that quilt rose a moon; it shed its
radiance and silver light upon my face. As if I were trying to grab it, I reached
out for it. Another figure stared up at me from a nearby stream. Wait! That
figure was not my reflection, they had several blood thirsty hounds ready to
spring at me! With that, I began a swift gait through the forests of terror,
The Underground Railroad. Complete darkness entered through my eyes into
my mind. Rather suddenly, I tripped over some exposed roots of a tree. My
thoughts blurred, I knew I wasn't going to survive. My vision soon cleared;
I was still alive, and the slave catcher with his "pets" surrounded me. The
lone voice of the slave catcher informed me in stone cold words that I was
going back "home."

Slumped down on the muddy ground lay a girl named Star. Panting for air
was the only sound heard in that hut, and it was her own breathing. With no
sign of sunlight in the room, or the rest of the plantation, she stood up. Weeks
had passed since she had last run away, but she had plans. People said that
she didn't have freedom, but she did. Now fully awake, she began to duck and
run. This was her freedom; dashing under a sky of quilts. Now she was racing
with her one and only companion, time. Maybe she had two companions. If
she did, it would be freedom. Out of the Georgia plantation she ran, going on
past Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois, and all the way up to New York.
This was not her end, even though slave catchers swore they would get that
runaway. In front of her stretched the vast land of Canada, now she was
standing on it. Perhaps if you ask a Canadian about a young girl named Star,
they'll just smile and look into your eyes, knowingly.