48

Chapter 4

Previously on Chapter 3:

"Where ya home, 48?" asked 27, who, up until that moment, had been silent. I stayed quiet, knowing that if I said something I would be returned to the Plantation with the fire and the shots were. I shook my head, "My plantation been burned down. Last thin' I 'member from dere was fire and guns." I lied uneasily, trying to make it sound believable. Apparently it worked because all looked at me in sympathy, except 8 who looked at me like I had lost my mind. "Your plantation...burned down..?" 8 questioned skeptically. "Ya...I guess so. I mean, I smelt fire and heard guns. Den afta dat, everythin' is just a blur. I sup'ose I was stumblin' 'round before dat white man found me." I said with a slight shrug to my shoulders.  

Now in Chapter 4:

They looked at me with such serious faces that I almost broke and told them the truth. "8 go an' tell the Mastuh what he said." 13 said before glaring at the boy, "'Nd no lies either boy." He said in a stern voice. I saw the boy shiver at his tone before nodding once and walking off somewhere. We sat there in silence until 14 asked me if I could walk yet. I looked at my feet and moved my toes. Although it felt odd to move my feet, I could feel the numbness fade from my feet. "How long was I asleep?" I wondered to myself. "Uh bit ov'r 2 days." 13 said looking at me in sympathy. I looked at 14 and said "I think I can walk, but only with somethin' ta help me. My legs are very sore." I explained.

14 nodded his head. "You look like you walked for days so dats expect'd." After he said that, the slave barracks, by the looks of it, was once again engrossed in silence. After a period of time, I did not bother counting, 8 came back. "Mastuh said ta bring 'im to da mansion." When he said this, I had flashes of my life on the Plantation. Images of bloodied hands and whipped backs flashed in front of my eyes. Some of these images were what I had seen on myself and some of these images were what I had seen on other slaves. Gruesome images as well as simple images of hard beds and bad food. This was a place I did not want to face again. Places like where I had come from. Places like where I was now. But I remembered trying to survive. I remembered the hunger that I felt in my stomach and the sounds my bones made when I woke from sleeping on the hard ground. I compared the two and from my perspective, the plantation seemed like Heaven. 

But I could still remember the feeling of being free. Even though it was tough, I knew deep down that I could survive. I knew in my heart that the colored people didn't belong to "master". That each colored was the same as any white man and that we only believed we belonged to someone because that is what we had been told since we were babies still growing inside our mamas. But deep down, it felt as though we belonged free. Not chained down, beaten, or owned. We belonged with the land. Where I got these thoughts, I knew not. But I knew for sure that it was how I really felt. I knew that I was blind to my own wishes before now. I knew something opened my eyes. But what opened my eyes escaped my mind.

"Come on, boy." Said 8, grabbing my arm when the chains fell from around my ankle. He pulled my up; more like yanked my to my feet. He, then, pulled me to the door outside. When I left the slave house, the light hit my eyes and blinded me for several seconds. When it cleared, I looked around and realized that the layout of this plantation was similar to that of my own. We were walking by rows of crops. However instead of cotton like at the Corinthian Plantation, this plantation had a different kind of crop. These crops were tall and yellow. At the time, I did not know these crops were called "Corn". Many of the slaves, 'No' I reminded myself, 'Not slaves but people. My people.', looked our way when we walked near them but quickly got back to work, not wanting to be caught doing nothing by the master.

We moved past them and I realized that this Plantation is as heavily guarded as the last one. Then I thought about the odds. If this one was anything like the last, my people heavily outnumbered the white people on the Plantation. It was at this time, when I was being pulled by 8 and being followed by 14, 13, and 27, that I promised to myself to free my people. Promised to show my people how it felt to sleep at night without chains holding us down. I promised to free all of them. One plantation at a time, starting with this one. At this thought, I tore my wrist from 8's grip and stood tall, walking ahead of all four of the people who had helped me. I walked towards the large manor, towards the first step in a long journey, towards my future. 

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Rate and Review please

This is the last chapter of this story. What do you think? A nice little bow? (maybe with those two loose ends on a normal bow?)

A fun little fact about this story is that the official date of completion on it is May 15, 2014. So it has been completed for a quite a few years. For the most part this is 100% the original text that I typed, aside from a few grammar edits and rewording. If you have any questions about something not tied up, let me know and I'll answer as best I can. But I said in a previous chapter that reading 47 before reading this would be suggested. 

Anyways! I hope you enjoyed the story. 

Also don't forget to tell me what you think in the comments section below or even my PMs if you don't like publicly commenting.