When I woke up, I was still in this world where my family owned humans. Alice was up and tidying my room. She was very quiet. I sat up in my bed and told her that I was sorry that I got her in trouble. She smiled and told me that she was grateful that I wanted to see how “her kind” lived and that we visited her family. It showed that I cared. Her gratitude nearly made me want to cry. I told her that I detest slavery and racism. Alice shrugged her shoulder and told me that there would be no slavery in heaven. While on Earth, we had to live with other people's hatred and wish to dominate others.
Dad was still mad at me so I was told not to leave the house. This gave mom a chance to speak with me. She said the same thing as others told me. I had to stop being a slave lover and stop shaming the family. There is a hierarchy in the world and a system of how the world works. I had to accept this and not try to change what should not be changed. I wanted to discuss this with her but decided that no one listened to me so far, so it would be pointless trying to discuss anything.
After lunch, dad came to the house and told me to come with him. He told me that it was time to learn about life on a plantation. So we walked to the slave camp. I was so confused. I got in trouble for visiting the slave camp before and now Dad was taking me there himself. Sometimes parents were so strange.
I soon found out why he took me there. A slave was caught trying to run away. He was tied to a pole. I could see that he was not that old. He also had a lot of muscles. I am sure that he was the strongest man that I ever met. The overseer took a whip and started to whip him. When I tried to turn away, Dad held my head and forced me to look at the whipping. He repeated that it was time that I learned a lesson. The man was whipped again and again. The sound of every whip was like a screeching sound of death. I was horrified at its cruelty and was crying. When the whole thing was over, the slave fell to the ground. His back was covered with blood and he looked like a corpse.
I was led back to the house. I ran to my room and just sat in a corner. I could understand why the slave wanted to run away. He wanted his freedom. However, he was considered property and would never have freedom. He was whipped as a punishment and a way to subdue him. In this cruel world, there seemed to be no hope. The white people could not see what they were doing was wrong. There was nothing that I could do about it.
I could not sleep that night. I kept twisting and turning in my bed as I had nightmares about the whipping. I could not sleep. I imagined that it was the same for him. He must have been in so much pain
The next morning I snuck out of the house and breakfast and went to the slave camp. I did not want Alice to come as she would only get punished. Life in the camp stopped when I arrived at the camp. Everyone just looked at me and kept their distance. I found the shack where the runaway slave was in. He was laying on a wooden table while women were tending to his wounds. Some other women were singing some Gospel songs and praying. Everyone stopped when they have seen me enter the room. An old lady was crying and asked what I was doing there. I felt as if all eyes were on me as they were waiting for an answer. I told them that I felt bad about the whipping and just wanted to help
There was silence
Alice’s grandmother took my arm and said, “With all respect Miss, I think you should leave. This is a hard time for the man and his family. As you can see, he is very hurt and will always have these scars on his back as a reminder. While we appreciate that you want to help, you must realize we see you and your family as our owners. We see you as people that have us as property and can do with us as you wish. It was your family that ordered that he would be whipped until he was close to death.”
It was very brave of Alice’s grandmother to say all of this. I could have her punished for speaking in that way. Yet what she said was true. My family was the cause of the suffering. I was an intruder. I quietly apologised for disturbing them and left.
That night I was in my bedroom thinking about what I have seen. Dad came storming into my bedroom. He was very mad at me. My sister saw me sneaking out of the house and secretly followed me to the slave camp. She told Dad about this and now he was outraged. He told me that he was ashamed that his own daughter was just like a Yankee abolitionist. He did not want me to explain why I was at the camp or why I disobeyed him. He was tired of me and my excuses. When he was finished blowing steam, he told me that I would be locked in my room until further notice.
Dad walked out and I could hear the door being locked.
Alice was locked in my room with me, so one would think that I had company. I did not. She said nothing. This made me sad as it made me think that she still considered me an owner. I thought that she may have been afraid of me. I did not know how long I would be locked up. I sat on my bed and looked out the window. Why did the magic book send me here? There was nothing else I could do except make the life of others a life of hell. When would this magic book transport me home to the time period that I belonged to?
Alice finally spoke, “I do not understand you miss. You want to be my friend. I am your slave, and this was hard for me to understand. Why would a white girl want to be friends with me? It has taken me some time, but I do see that you care about my people. I do see that you respect us as humans. Despite this, the fact is that I will always be your slave. We can be friends, but this would never stop me from being your slave, or my family being whipped and having to work until the hard work kills them.”
I did not know what to reply to this. Alice was right. The fact was that she would always be a slave, and I could not change this. The question was if she would have been here as a friend if she had the freedom to be where she wanted.
I must have been locked up for several days. I did not see any of my family. Finally, my Mother come came in and told me that I was no longer locked up. She told me that she hoped that she hoped that I had enough time to think about the errors of my ways. She pleaded that I stopped being friendly with slaves and think they were more important than they deserved. She reminded me that I was a lady. I would never get married or would survive in society if I had the same views as the Yankees that thought that slavery should be abolished.
Things got back to normal. The slaves did what they were told and there were often punishments. My sister was as evil as she ever was. Dad hardly spoke with me as I must have been a thorn in his eye. I did my best to close my eyes whenever I saw any injustice. I just wanted the magic book to take me out of here and take me someplace else.
One day, Alice and I were sitting in the fields. We were talking about nature and how pretty things were. I wanted to tell her about the magic book and what it was like to live in 2020. I wanted to give her hope that things would change. I refrained from telling her that. Everyone already thought I was crazy enough.
Alice did confide in me about a secret she had. She told me that my dad has a relationship with her mother. The fact was that it was not a relationship as he just used her mother. The end result was that it ended with the birth of Alice. She may have a white father, but he would never acknowledge it and Alice would always be considered a slave. This shocked and confused me. I knew nothing about love and how adult relationships were, but I did understand how hard it was to be for Alice to know who her real dad was and he would not acknowledge her.
The next day when I woke up, Alice was not there. I looked everywhere and could not find Alice. When I asked a slave where Alice was, I was told that Alice was no longer there.
What happened to Alice?
ns 15.158.61.48da2
