Sweet Freedom
Marie gathered crumbs of wax off her master's candlestick and smushed them into the candle she had been forming for weeks. She had made many magic deals before, learning to speak english and once she used to it to learn fiddle. It was a simple deal she wanted to make with the Angel, help escaping the sugar cane plantation. She had never been off the island but anywhere where her hands didnt crack from the long hours of cane farming would do well. Sneaking back to the kitchen, she stole an orange and ashes from the stove. Quietly she tiptoed to the field where she quickly made a tiny fire, lit the candle, and sprinkled the ashes on the orange. She watched as the orange rapidly decayed and the candle melted to a puddle on the dirt. "I want to leave this place, Will you help me?" The silence hung in the air and suddenly the dirt began to mix with wax and form an arrow that pointed towards to shore. "No I tried that! I'll get beat! Oh Jesu aide moi." Her homemade sack contained 3 peices of salt fish wrapped in sugar cane leaves, a bottle of lemonade, a ball of wax, a stolen fish net and a tattered lesson book her brother François gave her. Hurrying off to the shore her heart pounding like an ax on wood she remembered her brothers words. "If I was meant to be a slave why do I feel like a free man" he had asked one day in his crisp french. He had taught her french back when she was a little, stupid girl. "If you feel like a free man why you wanna escape then dummy" she had said. Now she knew why, she couldnt live another day in this hell. Now she had to leave her beloved brother, who had read her books. She would beg him to read in creole but he kept right on in that french, making her head swim. Oh François... She reached the shore and a rowboat was there. Of course she rowed out out to sea thanking God and the Angel she had asked for help. She rowed for what felt like a year, ate a piece of salt fish and began to feel like she couldn't keep her eyes open. She blinked and when she opened her eyes it was sunny and she was soaking wet. "Sorry bout that luv, the deck boy is weakling. Dropped you in the sea twice before he finally pulled you aboard. Can you sit up then?" Confused and dizzy all Marie could do was lay there. Another man came up and kicked her in the ribs, "answer 'im if ya know what good fer ya". No way was she gonna let them know she spoke english, " je vien de Saint Domingue". "Huh, I think she don't understand ya then" he said kicking her again. "Arrete" she started to panic a little these were the men on those boats she saw from the island. She was beginning to realize they might not be an improvement from her old master. Sure he only let her eat a tiny bit during the work day but what if they dont feed her at all? Or what if they beat her BEFORE she broke the rules? The men had walked away leaving her with water in her chest and a sick feeling in her stomach.
