Caged Bird Screaming

George led him to the stables, where he tied the chain to the horses’ saddle. He smiled at Axe one more time as he jumped on the horse. “Enjoy your journey Dog.” He said and hit the horse. Before Axe fully grasped what was going on, the horse darted off at full speed. Axe lost his footing trying to keep up with the pace of the horse and fell. He wanted to get up. He tried to get up but couldn’t as deep burns formed on his skin. He watched some parts of his dark skin turn white and then pink as he skidded along the rough ground. He bit his lip trying to hide the pain. He had failed Chapel twice and wasn’t going to fail him again. He closed his eyes, not knowing how much his ordeal would last. He didn’t know if he could take the pain any longer. “Please God make it stop. Please God have mercy on me.” Axe prayed. He said the words again and again, hoping God was listening to his pleas. As he said the words, the pain seemed to dissolve into the corner of his mind. A sense of peace washed over him, and he knew God was with him.

George stopped the horse once they got to the town square. He removed Axe’s chain from the horse’s saddle and made dragged Axe all the way to the whipping post. He wanted to whip Dog till he was half dead before he was burnt at stake.

Axe didn’t put up a fight as his hands were once again tied above his head. Swarms of people filled the town square. Axe found it quite ironic because both Negroes and Whites stood together in the square as one, watching as he was about to be taught a lesson.

George was savouring the moment. He took out his whip and stuck Axe. Axe jolted and leaned forward.  He was not going to yell. He was not going to cry. He was not going to plead for mercy. He could see the woman and her three children cheering at George, screaming remarks on adding whipping him harder and harder till he could take it no more.

Axe saw his father in the crowd with tears pouring down his eyes. Axe saw him trying to look away, but he couldn’t. He had no other choice but watch his son being flogged ruthlessly by the man who deserved to take his place. Axe tried to smile reassuringly but it broke Peter’s heart even more. He cried out to God begging to take his son’s place. Hadn’t his son been through enough? Masters and mistresses beside him screamed for his son’s blood and there was nothing he could do about it. They cried out for his child’s blood and he could do nothing but watch as the blood of his son flowed across the platform.

“Everything will be fine father. I am safe in God’s hands.” Axe whispered trying to get the message across to him. He was sure Peter had seen him mouth the words and prayed he understood what the words meant.

George stopped whipping Axe and untied his hands. Then he forced him to carry the wooden beam he’d be place on, in preparation to be burned at stake. Axe struggled to walk and couldn’t grasp a sense of reality. His world seemed to blur before his eyes and when the wooden beam was placed on his shoulder, he collapsed. The crowd laughed and George forced him onto his feet by the hair. Axe looked him in the eye and slowly carried the heavy object on his shoulder, staggering through the streets on his way to his execution. Burnings at stake were carried out a small distance from the town.

There were times Axe thought he wouldn’t make it as his head spun in circles. People faded before his eyes into colours of red, blue and green. Their voices muffled in his ears and pain throbbed through all corners and angles of his body.

It seemed like eternity until they got to the place of his death. The beam was removed from Axe’s shoulder and some men Axe didn’t recognize tied him to the beam and raised it diagonally so he faced the crowd. Axe looked down and looked back up again. The beam was at least three metres high. He was scared of heights. A large stack of hay surrounded the wooden beam, piled high until it reached the soles of his feet.

“This is what happens to those who dare to kill one of our own!!” George screamed out. The joy of watching his slave die filled him with ecstasy.

The hay was set alight and voices rang out. Vile and cruel words were hurled at Axe, as the smoke filled his nostrils chocking him slowly. The flames began licking at his feet. He tried moving them, but couldn’t because the men tied his entire body to the pole so he couldn’t move a muscle. The flames began eating away at his flesh consuming him. At first, Axe felt the excruciating pain then after a while he couldn’t feel it. He could feel the heat running across his skin. He tried not to scream but it was hard not to do.

The wind began picking up and the flames moved faster and faster across his body. Axe couldn’t take it anymore.

Peter tried to keep his emotions in check but couldn’t. He wanted to scream out his son’s name. He wanted to strangle each and every man, woman and child screaming for the death of his son. He wanted to turn and run away from the scene before him. He closed his eyes hoping everything would pass away.

Axe screamed.

 His scream broke through the crackling of the fire shattering Peter’s mind. The birds flew from their nests high into the sky. The world seemed to stop at that moment for Peter.

“AXE!!!!” He yelled hoping Axe would hear him. “AXE!!!!!” He had only just found his son. He had finally found the child he’d cradle in his arms every night after fifteen years. He had found the one thing that remembered him of the life he lost. “AAAAAAAAAXXXXXXXXXXEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!”

Axe sighed and his world slowly....slowly faded away.

Back in the house a young boy stood on the window sill in the attic with tears streaming down his face. “Goodbye.” He whispered and jumped.

and that my friend is the end. 

Bring on the hate mail.

Thank you for reading Caged Bird Screaming. It has been a lovely journey.