Surrender

Ethan James' POV

Ethan James' POV:

The first thought that entered my mind was to go and rescue my father but then I remembered of how he left me in charge of my mother and sister. I can not risk all of our lives at once. That just won't be clever. What if you never reach your father in time? asks a small voice in my head.

"I have to! But for now, patience is the best answer for I must not jump to conclusions," I say softly, mostly to myself than anyone else.

My thoughts are yet again distracted, when my mother faints and falls to the ground.

"Mother!" I call, helping her up and carrying her to the nearest bed.

"Mother, please wake up," I plead as I sprinkle some water at her, "We can not become orphans. Please mother, come back to us."

Katherine just stares, open-mouthed at my mother. I can see a mix of feelings, but the ones that are most evidently shown on her face are feelings of shock, woe, and despair.

Then I recall a memory of my professor teaching us how to determine if a person is dead or not. I quickly try to feel for my mother's pulse. I start to get really nervous when I don't find it. But then I feel a soft pulse. The pulse didn't feel normal, instead it felt as if it was becoming slower and slower. I was afraid that it might altogether stop. But, the sun was setting and the next clinic was miles away.

I decided it would be best if I waited for dawn, the next day, and go to get one of the doctors from the clinic. But, I decided that the fastest way I'll get there is by my bike, which was actually my 16th birthday present.

I decided to feel for my mother's pulse again just to make sure. But when I felt it this time, it started to feel as if her heart was beating at a normal rate. But I didn't want to take any risks and decided that I must get the doctor the very next day.

I told Katherine my plans and told her to stay with my mother, to make sure that nothing happens. She agrees and we start making preparations for dinner.

After dinner, I decided to do some light reading since I didn't really feel very sleepy. I decided to read a book about the French Revolution. It actually saddened me to read of the poverty that was in France during that time. But what really upset me was the fact that the wealthy had everything. For example, they would wear/buy new clothes every single day, while the poor didn't even have one set of clothing to last them a month. But their reaction was also a bit too harsh. Killing and imprisoning the wealthy wasn't really a very effective way to get equity. In the end, they even killed the King and Queen.

As I lay in bed, I think about the French Revolution. I realize how different the French Revolution was from the American Revolution. In the American Revolution, the citizens didn't really kill the British as cruelly as the French killed the wealthy. Then again, their reasons weren't the same. In the American Revolution, citizens wanted independence and freedom from the British. But in the French Revolution, the citizens wanted equity among all.

But then another thought entered my mind, how would people 50 years from now think of the Civil War? Would they think that this was foolish? Or would they think that this was necessary?

----------------------------------------------------------------------

I cough as black smoke is breathed into my lungs. All is black and I can't see anything but I hear a desperate voice.

"Help! Help! Ethan, help me!" it calls. Hearing my name, I try to find out where the voice is coming from. The voice sounds so familiar yet I am still unable to recognize it.

"Ethan!" this time the voice seems closer and more desperate.

I freeze as a hand clutches my foot. I look down to see Katherine trapped beneath the raging fire that threatens to burn me if I dare to venture closer.

"Hold on! I'll get you out," I say but before I can reach her, the roof collapses on her.

I hear her ear-splitting, heart wrenching shriek.

"Katherine!" I say, as I fall off my bed.

I hear hurried footsteps as the door opens to a very flustered Katherine.

"What happened? Did you call me?" she asked, her eyes full of exhaust.

"No", I lie, unable to tell her the truth, "But this is the first time that you actually wake up early. Is today a special day/"

"No, not quite. But remember that today will be the first and last day. The only reason I woke up was because of a dream," she seemed like she didn't want to share it, I was about to ask her when she continued,"Then after that I couldn't go back to sleep. Then I heard someone call me."

I looked outside to see that it was already dawn. Then I remembered about my mother.

"I must go now", I told my sister, "Please make sure that mother feels comfortable and that you're there is she happens to call you." She nods her head, and I proceed to exit.

But, after I came out from the house, one of the slaves rushed to greet me. I recognized him as the slave that I invited to dinner.

"Good morning," he calls, "Isn't it awfully early to go outside today?"

"Good morning to you too. This is very urgent matter. My mother has fallen ill and I must bring the doctor," I replied.

"May I please accompany you? I wouldn't want you to get hurt," he said.

I was about to decline his offer but then I realized that I really don't want to go out there all alone.

"Okay, you may," I replied.

Then one thought struck me, I knew nothing of this man besides the fact that he was one of the slaves that my father bought from another slave owner.

"If you do not mind me asking but may I ask you for your name?" I said, trying to make sure that I atleast know the basics of him.

"My name is Alfred Wilmington," he replied proudly.

"Please tell me if I'm asking about personal business that you do not want to share, as I do not want to make you feel uncomfortable. I have many questions that I would like to ask you. My first question is: Tell me about yourself," I said trying to make it easier for me to know more about him.

"Well, sir, I have told you that my name is Alfred Wilmington. I do not know my exact age so I can not tell you that. I have never met my mother as she was separated from me when I was but a young child. My father is rumored to have been my previous master. But that didn't stop him from punishing me. He would punish me the most. He sold me only so that he could join the Northern States. He never really wanted to be with the losing team and seeing how the Confederates were outnumbered, he sold all his slaves so that he could join the Union. He paid his servants but they were treated as cruelly as if they were slaves. The only difference was that they couldn't be whipped. The only one that I actually liked from his family was his son, Carlton Walters. I know that my age, right now, is around 25-26 because Carlton had overheard his father discussing my age. Even though, Carlton had some fear of his father, he broke his father's rules nevertheless. He would make sure that I never starved, just as you would. Well, call me an idiot, but I just noticed that you and Carlton are so similar. You both share that passion of helping others," he said, as he looked at me in a new light.