So those of you who enjoy writing or write on a regular basis understand when you have an “aha!” moment. You could be doing anything: driving down the road, washing yourself in the shower, sitting bored in class, when all of a sudden, you have a revelation of an amazing story idea to write! Mine actually came to me on Saturday night as I was drifting off to sleep. I like to think of it as more a vision than a revelation. It wasn’t a dream, because I was completely conscious, but it just kind of flooded my mind like a movie, like a vision. Anyway, since I was tired, I went to sleep and then, the next day during coffee hour at Andrea’s church, quickly wrote out my story ideas on a napkin to help me remember them.

The story is called “Unshackled” and at this point in time is a short story. It is about an African slave in the American south named Sefu who works on a cotton plantation. I’ve decided to post the story  on this blog so that if you are interested (and I truly hope that you are), you will/can/should/could read it as I post the chapters. I’m going to post chapters as I write them, so there may be times where I don’t update my story for a week at a time. I really hope you enjoy it, though…and give me feedback! I’d love to hear what you have to say about my story, either good or bad feedback!

Thanks, y’all!

Andrew

 

“Unshackled”

I.

     Sefu set his basket on the ground and stood up to wipe away the sweat on his brow. He squinted up at the sun, scanning the horizon for any hint of clouds or rain to give him reprieve of the hot southern sun. It was only nine o’clock in the morning, but Sefu and the rest of the team had been out in the fields for almost five hours. He reached around and pulled his shirt off his sweat-slicked back, the wool sticking to the healing scars etched into his back from the crack of the whip.

     Sefu looked over his shoulder and saw the overseers pacing up and down the rows of cotton, looking in the baskets of his fellow slaves, a few on horseback carrying shotguns. He thought about making a run for it into the woods, but he would never make it in time to escape-the tree line was one hundred yards away and an overseer on horseback would surely catch up to him. Besides, his back still ached from when he’d been punished earlier that week from stealing cotton out of Sokkwi’s basket to make it look like he had been slacking, while Sefu, the real slacker in the work team, had been working harder, rather than vice versa.

     Sefu quickly turned around as he heard the sound of a gun being cocked to see Mister Calloway, one of the overseers on a horse, with a pistol pointed in his direction.

“Don’t even think about it, boy,” Calloway said. He spat a glob of tobacco-filled saliva with perfect accuracy, the spittle landing just inches from Sefu’s feet. “Y’all better get back to work now.” Mister Calloway motioned with his pistol towards the basket half filled with cotton.

“Yessuh, Mistuh Calluhway,” Sefu said, quickly stooping down to pick up his basket and continued to pick his cotton with renewed vigor. He glanced over his shoulder and saw that Calloway was still there, watching Sefu pick cotton with interest, making sure that the African slave didn’t try to escape the Mississippian cotton plantation.

Sefu realized how lucky he was that it was Calloway that had caught him; Calloway was one of the tamer overseers. If any other of the overseers had caught him in an escape attempt, he would have been shot and injured, or more likely, killed. He shook this thought away as he continued to pick cotton out of the boll and drop it into his basket as Calloway kicked his horse into a trot and moved across the field.

“Psst, Sefu!” an old voice whispered from behind him. Sefu turned around and saw old Lucifer, the groundskeeper for the plantation. Lucifer was the oldest slave on the plantation; he had been bought by the Master’s father before he had passed the plantation on to his son many years ago. “I saw yer lookin’ over to them thar trees,” the old man said. “You thinkin’ about ‘scapin’?”

“Naw, I’d bettuh not,” Sefu replied, not taking his eyes off the bolls as he picked the cotton. He didn’t want Mr. Calloway to return; the overseer might not be as merciful the next time around.

“Oh, common Sefu,” Lucifer said insistently. “You’s got yer whole lahf ahead of you yit. Lookit me: Ah’ve been on dis’ere plantashun most’a mah whole dern lahf. You don’ wanna end up lahk me, now do yuh?” Sefu stood up and looked the old man in the eye. Lucifer simply smiled back, his toothless grin sending a shiver up Sefu’s spine. Sefu saw the Master coming down the dirt path toward the field, scanning the landscape to look at his various servants.

“Lissen, Lucifuh, the Massuh is a’comin’ down da lane. Ah rilly gots to git back to work now. Ah’ll talk to y’all latuh,” Sefu explained as he picked up his basket and moved onto the next row to pick more cotton. He noticed out of the corner of his eye that the old man was following him, watching him insistently.

As Sefu was about to say something to Lucifer, he heard a sharp whistle and the crack of a gun. He looked up quick and saw Sokkwi sprinting towards the tree line. The overseers were about to chase the slave into the forest, when they stopped at the Master’s command. Instead, the Master hopped on the horse of the nearest overseer and trotted into the woods where Sokkwi had disappeared. The echoing yell of “Back to work!” followed by another shotgun blast quickly brought the rest of the slaves back to reality and they instantly bent back down as one and continued to pick cotton from the bolls.

“Poor dern fool,” Lucifer said in mock sadness.

“What do you mean?” Sefu asked.

“What, yuh haven’t heard?” Lucifer asked. “Whenevuh a slave escapes, duh Massuh always goes aftuh him. Da damn fools’re nevuh seen nor heard from agin aftuh dat. De reason dat he wears dat long drapin’ jacket ovuh top uf his shirt all de time is ‘cuz suppos’ly he’s got de ears of all de slaves dat’ve tried to ‘scape from dis plantashun. Dey  say dat he chases dem into de woods, kills dem, and cuts off their ears for a souvenir, keeping dem on a rope under his jacket. Dat’s why you gots to wait until dark to run away, Sefu. Ah’ll help y’all to make yer escape,” Lucifer said, giving the young man his toothless grin again. “Y’all bettuh hope yuh don’t get caught though…yuh don’t wanna end up like duh rest of’um…” Lucifer gave a cackling laugh and walked back down the lane towards the Big House.

 

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