Post by Sarie on Oct 21, 2008 17:25:09 GMT -5
Heyo! It's Sarie here! I decided, why not post my story... I wrote a story for social studies about the Middle Passage. For those of you who don't know (or don't remember) what that is, it's the slave route between Africa and West Indies. Here you go:
The Middle Passage Story
The fire sparked a flurry of ashy-material in front of young Alea. She took a deep nervous breath, her lungs filling with the smoke. Tonight was filled with pale creepy monsters. The elders called them Sea Monsters, because after they take you away to sea, you are never seen again, but the thing that worried Alea tonight was the lack of protection around her. The men of the village had gone off to hunt less than half a day ago, and the few men that stayed back weren’t enough to protect everyone. The elders said all was going to be well, but a cloud of doubt hung in the smoky air.
“Alea,” Alea’s mother passed Alea a clay bowl of mushy food. Alea gave a weak smile before eating the food. Alea’s sister, Tiki, started singing a soft tune, coaxing the pit of nerves in Alea’s stomach. Out of nowhere, the danger horn blew.
Everyone in the village got up at the same time, and in a frenzied crowd. The scene of the terrified riot was tinted with the cracking red fire. Alea stands there, mesmerized by the flames and the crowd. Her mother and sister grab her arms and pull her into the safety of the wet dark jungle. They stand there as still and quiet as they can, watching the women, children, and men fleeing about the village. Time progressed as the fire grew.
From in the reddish-gray smoke of the fire, a silhouette of a man came out. His face became visible and three audible gasps escape the mouth’s of Alea, Tiki, and their mother. He was a Sea Monster, they all knew he would take them away now.
Alea’s mother shrieks angrily and flings herself towards the man. He takes a long stick and points at her. CRACK! She falls limply to the ground motionless and terrifying. The man takes a slow step closer to the terrified Alea and Tiki. Alea feels the need to run, but she’s paralyzed by the man’s upturned grin. He lifts his rifle and Alea cringes, afraid of the same fate as her mother’s. A loud crack enters her ears, but not the same sound as before. Alea’s head swirls into a misty pool of pain and disorientation.
“Wake up! Get up ther’! Wake up!” A strange language woke Alea up to a strange setting. The beach was covered by a wooden monster. There was a Sea Monster standing above her, shouting in a strange language that Alea did not understand. She looked around her, there were many people walking sullenly in clinking metal chains. She recognized a few from her village, but the rest were men from other tribes. She stood up slowly, only to be marched in with a long line of people walking towards the wooden monster. The deep dark feeling in the pit of her stomach that had nervousness, anger, and sadness together grew larger.
The line walked onto the wooden thing on a plank of unsteady wood. Alea cringed after each step, a ringing blaring noise filled her head with each step. From inside the wooden thing, they were led down a hole, and laid down in rows. Everyone squashed together and a stench unlike any other imaginable smell overtook Alea, making her stagger faintly. The stench of rotten food, feces, and death polluted the air. Each breath made Alea pray for an escape.
Either seconds or hours passed. The time difference was hard to tell, nothing showed a difference. Every second ticked by, confusing Alea about how long she had been in the stinky hold. After, who knows how long, a light flowed out of the door above. A pale creature popped his head down, wrinkling his nose with the stench that overcame him suddenly. He took the closest person and helped him get up the ladder and out of the dark hold. Could this be an escape? Alea’s hope grew like a balloon, inflating her with courage to go up the ladder. She crossed around on the deck, confused about what was happening. There was a gentle bob up and down, and there was a soft scented breeze. Alea ran to the side and saw waves of water crashing around the wood. So this is what happens when the Sea Monsters get you. She thought aloud.
The days passed without reminder of what was happening. Alea would wake up, relieve herself, fall back asleep, wake up, eat, sit for a while, go out on deck, go back in, and fall asleep. The stench of the hold became almost nature after a while, Alea got used to trying not to inhale with her nose. After what seemed like forever, or maybe only a few days, who knows, the normal schedule that Alea was used to was interrupted by an unexpected event.
The day started like all the others, except for the fact that the Pale People took all of the countrymen on deck. Once Alea was on the deck, she could plainly see a large mass of land. From the distance, it could only be barely made out, and luckily Alea had great eyesight. Small cheers came from the crew and some of the captured countrymen, increasing Alea’s excitement. For the first time in a long time, Alea remembered Tiki, where was she? Alea’s eyes darted around the deck, searching for Tiki. There were too many faces though, it felt like the search was hopeless, when Tiki’s face emerged from the sea of people. Both girls ran towards each other, extremely pleased to find another. They embraced each other quickly, and by then the wooden ship was setting down it’s anchor. A lot of little boats came, and lots of people were loaded in them. Alea and Tiki left on the fifth one, and they went to the shore. Once they were on the shore of the mysterious new land, they were chained with clinking metal cuffs.
They all walked in a straight shackled line to part of the very large village. They were walked to a stage sort of place, where many pale people were standing about not looking directly at the chained people, but examining a few of them. A pale fat man stepped out of the crowd, and pulled himself onstage. He smirked at ell the chained people, as if laughing about some secret joke. The line walked onstage, and each person was singly put on stage with the loud talking man. He would call out things and someone from the crowd would answer until it was completely quiet. Then the plump man would begin talking again, and his onstage victim was taken away and replaced by another. When Alea was taken onstage, her insides were dancing and moving around, and her stomach felt wobbly. Only two people talked to the fat man, then she was taken away. More pale people unchained her and took her to one of the people who was talking to the fat man. It was a semi-old pale man. He had whiskers growing out the sides of his cheeks and his hair was a mousy brown. He smiled and waved for her to follow. Alea reluctantly followed, looking behind every so often to see if Tiki was back there. Tiki didn’t follow.
The man brought her to a wooden house-looking thing that was on wheels and attached to strange animals. The animals looked something like the animals from where Alea used to live. He helped her get inside of it, and got in himself. The animals began trotting away from the village and into the country. Alea could only feel nerves as she looked around at the strange place, with strange people, and a strange feel to it.
What'd you think?
The Middle Passage Story
The fire sparked a flurry of ashy-material in front of young Alea. She took a deep nervous breath, her lungs filling with the smoke. Tonight was filled with pale creepy monsters. The elders called them Sea Monsters, because after they take you away to sea, you are never seen again, but the thing that worried Alea tonight was the lack of protection around her. The men of the village had gone off to hunt less than half a day ago, and the few men that stayed back weren’t enough to protect everyone. The elders said all was going to be well, but a cloud of doubt hung in the smoky air.
“Alea,” Alea’s mother passed Alea a clay bowl of mushy food. Alea gave a weak smile before eating the food. Alea’s sister, Tiki, started singing a soft tune, coaxing the pit of nerves in Alea’s stomach. Out of nowhere, the danger horn blew.
Everyone in the village got up at the same time, and in a frenzied crowd. The scene of the terrified riot was tinted with the cracking red fire. Alea stands there, mesmerized by the flames and the crowd. Her mother and sister grab her arms and pull her into the safety of the wet dark jungle. They stand there as still and quiet as they can, watching the women, children, and men fleeing about the village. Time progressed as the fire grew.
From in the reddish-gray smoke of the fire, a silhouette of a man came out. His face became visible and three audible gasps escape the mouth’s of Alea, Tiki, and their mother. He was a Sea Monster, they all knew he would take them away now.
Alea’s mother shrieks angrily and flings herself towards the man. He takes a long stick and points at her. CRACK! She falls limply to the ground motionless and terrifying. The man takes a slow step closer to the terrified Alea and Tiki. Alea feels the need to run, but she’s paralyzed by the man’s upturned grin. He lifts his rifle and Alea cringes, afraid of the same fate as her mother’s. A loud crack enters her ears, but not the same sound as before. Alea’s head swirls into a misty pool of pain and disorientation.
“Wake up! Get up ther’! Wake up!” A strange language woke Alea up to a strange setting. The beach was covered by a wooden monster. There was a Sea Monster standing above her, shouting in a strange language that Alea did not understand. She looked around her, there were many people walking sullenly in clinking metal chains. She recognized a few from her village, but the rest were men from other tribes. She stood up slowly, only to be marched in with a long line of people walking towards the wooden monster. The deep dark feeling in the pit of her stomach that had nervousness, anger, and sadness together grew larger.
The line walked onto the wooden thing on a plank of unsteady wood. Alea cringed after each step, a ringing blaring noise filled her head with each step. From inside the wooden thing, they were led down a hole, and laid down in rows. Everyone squashed together and a stench unlike any other imaginable smell overtook Alea, making her stagger faintly. The stench of rotten food, feces, and death polluted the air. Each breath made Alea pray for an escape.
Either seconds or hours passed. The time difference was hard to tell, nothing showed a difference. Every second ticked by, confusing Alea about how long she had been in the stinky hold. After, who knows how long, a light flowed out of the door above. A pale creature popped his head down, wrinkling his nose with the stench that overcame him suddenly. He took the closest person and helped him get up the ladder and out of the dark hold. Could this be an escape? Alea’s hope grew like a balloon, inflating her with courage to go up the ladder. She crossed around on the deck, confused about what was happening. There was a gentle bob up and down, and there was a soft scented breeze. Alea ran to the side and saw waves of water crashing around the wood. So this is what happens when the Sea Monsters get you. She thought aloud.
The days passed without reminder of what was happening. Alea would wake up, relieve herself, fall back asleep, wake up, eat, sit for a while, go out on deck, go back in, and fall asleep. The stench of the hold became almost nature after a while, Alea got used to trying not to inhale with her nose. After what seemed like forever, or maybe only a few days, who knows, the normal schedule that Alea was used to was interrupted by an unexpected event.
The day started like all the others, except for the fact that the Pale People took all of the countrymen on deck. Once Alea was on the deck, she could plainly see a large mass of land. From the distance, it could only be barely made out, and luckily Alea had great eyesight. Small cheers came from the crew and some of the captured countrymen, increasing Alea’s excitement. For the first time in a long time, Alea remembered Tiki, where was she? Alea’s eyes darted around the deck, searching for Tiki. There were too many faces though, it felt like the search was hopeless, when Tiki’s face emerged from the sea of people. Both girls ran towards each other, extremely pleased to find another. They embraced each other quickly, and by then the wooden ship was setting down it’s anchor. A lot of little boats came, and lots of people were loaded in them. Alea and Tiki left on the fifth one, and they went to the shore. Once they were on the shore of the mysterious new land, they were chained with clinking metal cuffs.
They all walked in a straight shackled line to part of the very large village. They were walked to a stage sort of place, where many pale people were standing about not looking directly at the chained people, but examining a few of them. A pale fat man stepped out of the crowd, and pulled himself onstage. He smirked at ell the chained people, as if laughing about some secret joke. The line walked onstage, and each person was singly put on stage with the loud talking man. He would call out things and someone from the crowd would answer until it was completely quiet. Then the plump man would begin talking again, and his onstage victim was taken away and replaced by another. When Alea was taken onstage, her insides were dancing and moving around, and her stomach felt wobbly. Only two people talked to the fat man, then she was taken away. More pale people unchained her and took her to one of the people who was talking to the fat man. It was a semi-old pale man. He had whiskers growing out the sides of his cheeks and his hair was a mousy brown. He smiled and waved for her to follow. Alea reluctantly followed, looking behind every so often to see if Tiki was back there. Tiki didn’t follow.
The man brought her to a wooden house-looking thing that was on wheels and attached to strange animals. The animals looked something like the animals from where Alea used to live. He helped her get inside of it, and got in himself. The animals began trotting away from the village and into the country. Alea could only feel nerves as she looked around at the strange place, with strange people, and a strange feel to it.
What'd you think?
Hey, you put something in the poetry section! ;D
