Caged Bird Screaming

Fear

“What’s that?” Henry asked pointing to the bread.

“Why it’s bread master. Your father requested that I bring it to you.” Axe replied, sensing something was wrong. It was only a few weeks ago he and the boy were close friends and now it seemed the boy wanted nothing to do with him. He tried to hide his disappointment and anger. It wasn’t the child’s fault. It was his fault. He was a Negro. The child was a white...the master’s son. The son of the man who called him a Dog. He was nothing more than a toy in the household, a puppet in a sadistic play where happiness and freedom was a distant dream.

“You can go now.” Henry said with a wave of his hand. Axe nodded and left the room. Henry slumped his shoulders as he picked up the plate. The bread was stale. He broke off a small piece and it crumbled under his fingers. He knew it was all part of his punishment. His father couldn’t lay his hands on him, so he had resolved to giving him hard stale bread and water in a bid to teach him a lesson.

Henry placed the bread back on the table and drank the water. His stomach began to rumble and Henry pushed it in to try and silence it. He had heard of women who would wear tight waist straps in an effort to trick their stomachs to think it was full and therefore stop the rumbling. Henry thought about doing it but frowned at the thought of the pain he’d feel when he’d remove the straps.

As he tried not to think of his hunger, Henry retired into his world. He envisioned being Moses standing on a small cliff overlooking the red sea. He imagined having a long beard and a staff in his right hand. It was evening and the dark clouds had already began settling in, in the skies above. He turned when someone tapped his shoulder. It was Aaron, fear written all through his face.

“What is the problem Aaron?” He asked.

Aaron fumbled with the sleeves off his coat stammering “It....It’s....It’s Pha....Pharaoh’s men. They’re after us.”

Henry could feel fear gripping his heart. He took a deep breath and said. “Do not worry Aaron for the Lord is with us.” He then walked towards the people. They were white and shaking with fear.

“Moses what have you done to us?” They asked “Did you bring us out of Egypt to die here? Is this what you wanted?!” Children huddled close to their mothers in fear. The women cowered away as the men began getting furious.

“Peace! Peace!” He called out. “Do not fear for the Lord is with us.”

“Where is God? Where is he?” An old man called out.

“How are we going to get to the other side of the sea?” Another yelled.

“Didn’t we tell you in Egypt to leave us alone and let us serve the Egyptians? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die here in the desert!” One of the elders cried out.

“Pharaoh’s army is getting closer!” A woman shrieked. Some people panicked and began running into the water trying to find a way to escape.

“Moses what do we do?” Miriam asked.

“We wait on God.” He replied and turned to look at the vast sea.

The Lord spoke to him “Raise your staff and stretch your hand over the sea to divide the water so the Israelites can go through the sea on dry ground.”

Henry turned to the people and said “Stand firm and you shall see the deliverance of God.” And with that, he stretched out his staff and the water divided into two by a strong east wind and dry land lay at its feet.

The people cheered and began walking through the dry land. There was a wall of water on their right and left. Some hesitated afraid the gap would close and the water would swallow them up in a whole, but Henry and Aaron urged them forward reassuring them everything would be alright. God was with them. When the last of the Israelites had left the shore, both men began walking onto the dry land. Henry turned around as the sounds of Pharaoh’s chariots grew louder and louder. The pillar of fire had gone and the Egyptians were coming closer.