beaten

I was hunched over, working in the rice field. A bead of sweat trickled down my neck, while the sun decided to keep torturing me in the heat. My back was aching from picking the rice, when a loud noise startled me from my work. I saw my sister, Ba, standing next to me, looking up from her work. A pained look washed across her face.

"Luneah!"

I turned my head towards my sister, wondering what was going on.

"We need to go, right now!"

"Why?" I responded, confused. I tilted my head to the side, while a small hint of concern ran through me.

"People are coming, we need to hide, now."

She grabbed my hot, clammy hand, and I ran with my older sister to a large bush, shrinking my fearful body against the warm, smooth surface of the leaves. I turned my head to make sure nobody was coming, but I saw a man pop into the corner of my sight. He had seen us. We were going to get captured.

A wave of dread washed over my entire body as the man started walking towards us. His blistered hands tightly gripped a rope, and his face held a grim, shadowed look. I closed my eyes, fear showing through my staggered breaths, and hoped that neither of us would be taken. My hand found my sister's, when I felt it urgently being pulled out of my grasp. I quickly opened my eyes, terror staining my vision as I saw my sister being hauled out of my sight. Panic consuming me, I felt long fingers curl around my arm and pull me out of the protection of the bush.

"No!" I yelled, constantly kicking and squirming to get out of his grasp. "Leave me alone!" I kicked and screamed some more, but his firm grip didn't budge. I saw my sister being dragged off in front of me, then my mother being dragged off to the left of me.

"Let go!" I persisted, determined to run back to my small home and hide.

With my arms and legs getting tired of punching and kicking, I let him drag me off. My throat burned from screaming, but I didn't pay much attention to it. My gaze was off in the distance, at a small ship, where we were being dragged off to. I gulped down the lump of fear in my throat, my eyes wide open and my lip quivering.

Once we were on the ship, I was shoved into a small room with many other kids, and heard the door lock behind me. I reached my sister in the dark, sobbing.

"What's gonna happen to us?" I asked in a wavering voice.

"They've captured us," she responded, a hint of anxiety in her voice. "Mom was sent into the other half of the boat; I saw her. I don't know what will happen."

With all the worried air around me, I hardly noticed that I was in a room packed with people. My heart rate picked up. I couldn't breathe. The air around me was thick and packed with body heat. I groped around for something to hold onto, but I only found people everywhere I touched. It felt as if some giant, invisible hand was squeezing the life out of me.

"Deep breaths," I told myself through ragged gasps. "Deep breaths."

Tears invaded my eyesight, no matter how hard I tried to calm myself. Suddenly, I fell towards the floor, and felt the hard, cool surface press against my cheek. I took another deep breath, the cold floor calming me. I slowly stood up, still shaking a little. People around me had started to lay on top of one another to sleep, so I did the same. I made sure I was on the top of the stack, feeling the open air around me. I drifted off to sleep.

The soft, morning light shone through the porthole of the ship, waking me up. I stepped off the person I was sleeping on, still a little drowsy. I walked cautiously over arms and legs strewn to the side, until I made my way to the door. I gave it a soft push, and heard the creak of the door as a small sliver of light peeked through.

I walked over to the middle of the area, seeing my sister walking with a small plate of food.

"Ba!" I shouted. She didn't hear me. "Ba!" I shouted, a little louder, longing for her to talk to me, to give me some form of comfort in this living hell. Still no response.

I walked over to where I thought Ba had picked up her food, and got a small plate of horse beans. I gulped, slowly easing the beans into my mouth. I bit down, the horrible taste filling my mouth. I swallowed the bile coming up, along with the beans. I walked back to the room, wanting to find my sister. Once I got there, I didn't see her.

"It's okay," I muttered softly to myself. "She's probably somewhere else."

As I racked my brain for the places she could be, one thought bubbled up. Mom.

I quickly ate the rest of my beans, ignoring the horrible taste. I got up, walked out the door, and scampered to the other side of the ship. I saw a person standing there, so I ducked. Just when I'd thought I'd managed to wriggle through, I felt a sharp tug holding me back.

"Where do you think you're going?" The man asked sternly.

"My mom," I said, out of breath. "My mom, she's in there." I pointed to the entrance.

Despite my comment, the man dragged me to the side. He pulled out a whip.

"Beatings?!" I thought. An image of me getting beaten suddenly popped into my head, and I shrunk against the side of the wall in fear.

I felt pain strike through my body as the whip lashed against my back. I screeched and flinched in fear, but despite my protests, the lashes kept coming. Once they were over, I was covered in bloody scars. I shuddered as I limped back to the room. I fell asleep curled in a ball, nightmares flooding my head as I fell further and further into a deep, painful sleep.

The next day, I awoke to the sound of people getting up around me. I walked out, this time onto the deck. I'd never been on the deck before, but it felt much better than sleeping in a crowded room. My scars burned as the water sprayed them, and the wind blew my hair. I saw Ba coming towards me; a smile spreading across my face. She didn't look good, but at the same time, none of us did. She passed me, and walked up to the edge of the ship, stepping onto the ledge. She took a deep breath. I saw what she was doing. She was going to jump off the ship.

"Ba!" I yelled, my eyes wide. "Ba, don't do it!" The wind swallowed my voice, and it came out sounding like a muffled cry. She gradually lifted one foot off the ledge, and bent her knee. I turned away, covering my eyes in disbelief and shock. A loud splash of water could be heard, and I ran back to the room, crying and screaming in frustration. I was scared.

Some weeks later, they called us all over to get prepared to get off the ship. They made it sound exciting, but to me, it was just another obstacle. I knew something bad was going to happen; they didn't just drag us on this ship and beat us for no reason. Moments later, I knew I was right. I was pulled to the side, my face cringing and wincing in pain as they poured hot tar over my arms to cover up the scars. My arms went limp, feeling crippled as I walked back.

I saw a bit of land coming near. A couple hours later, we all bustled off the ship. They dragged us to a place that looked similar to the markets back at home, and from behind my perch, I saw a man walk up. He gave the man who brought us to the market some goods, and grasped my arm. He chained me up, so I was forced to follow him, knowing this was probably the last time I'd see the world the same. Then I realized why my sister warned me to hide when they were coming to get us.

Just like that, I was someone else's property. I would never have freedom or see my family again.