The Slave and Her Apprentice

The Rose in the Kitchen

I looked around the room. There was a large table in the center and a fireplace off to the side. The cabinets against the wall were full of jars with different spices. I looked along the floor and found a door that most likely led to the cellar. Above me were numerous hooks holding various pots and pans. Out the corner of my eye I saw a shadow move. My head snapped towards the movement and I took a step back.  A girl, looking no older than myself, stepped out of the cover of the shadowy corner. Her skin was the color of mahogany and her eyes were just as rich. As she looked into my eyes, I couldn’t help but feel as if I was unraveling before her, as if she was figuring me out layer by layer.

“Hello, my name is Willow.” I greeted.

“Hello Willow, I am Rose.” She responded. “I take it you were sent here to help me with the cooking.”

“Uh, yeah I guess that’s right.”

She studied me a bit more before moving to the table.

“Well, it’s almost dinner time. Massa said he wanted some fish, greens and corn bread. I already finished the greens and the corn bread is cooking. Do you know how to fry fish?”

“Yeah.”

“Good, come over here and get started.”

That was it. I seasoned, battered, and fried the vast quantity of fish that was set before me. By the time we were done cooking and cleaning, I was exhausted. I was enjoying the comfortable silence in the kitchen until Rose broke it.

“Where you from? You don’t sound like you from around here.”

It took me minute to decide how to respond. I couldn’t tell her that I was from the future and just magically woke up 200 years before my time and got sold in a slave auction. No, that wouldn’t have ended well. So, I said the first place that popped in my mind.

“South Carolina.”

“Is that far from here?”

“Yeah.”

The kitchen went back to a comfortable silence. I was just about to go to sleep when Rose asked another question.

“Willow?”

“Yeah?”

“How’d you end up here?”

The question struck a nerve. How did I end up here? I couldn’t remember what I was doing before I woke up in the cage. I tried not to think about it cause that led to the question of when was I going back, if I was going back. I laid in the silence, thoughts clouding my vision. When I thought Rose was asleep, I answered her.

“I honestly don’t know.”