Finding freedom is very hard, especially if you are born into a low rank. Take me as an example, I was captured and brought here to be a slave and had no freedom. See, in the southern states, nobody would expect to see a little girl like me walking around freely. Whoever saw us would obviously trap us and want a reward. But, luckily, there are some nice people in the world. Now, my story has three main parts to it, I was born and raised a slave, I had enough of being a slave and ran away, and then I finally became free.

"HURRY UP!" Mr. Jones fumed. He spitefully hit my Papa's back, "GET YOUR BACK TO IT!" I watched in horror as my dear Papa was getting beat. Before I

could scream, my Mama quickly grabbed my arm and disciplined me, "It is not right for him to beat your Papa, but we have no choice, sorry baby." I took one last glance at my papa, then grabbed my broom and began to work. Why were people doing this to us? Everyone is so cruel.

"It isn't fair," I pondered as I swept the floor, "People should all be treated equal, then everything is fair." After a few hours, I finished all my chores. I looked down at my hand and saw many blisters from all the work. "Rosa? Are you there?" A voice called from the entrance of the barn. "PAPA!" I yelled as I rushed into a hug with my father. "Are you OK? I saw you get

beat! My Papa chuckled, "I'm so glad that my little girl worries for me." Papa the started talking about war, and how everyone is fighting like crazy. I showed my indifference by looking down at my dirty shoes. I guess my Papa saw because he stopped talking and said, "Goodnight, Rosa." Then he kissed me on the forehead and left the barn.

A few moments later, my thoughts all came swarming back to me. Some of them were, "Why is General Washington saying that everyone should be treated equal when HE has slaves himself?" "Do other people around the world know about slavery?" "Is Mr. Jones going to finally set us free?" Now, that's never

going to happen. I grabbed my broom and left the barn. "Rosa? Did you feed the cows?" What about the sheep? The horses?" Matilda asked. "Stop worrying, I know what I'm doing!" I replied. Matilda has been my best friend since I got here. When I arrived, she was the first to help me with my chores. I then learned that she was six years older than me, which made me feel small. She hugged me tight and said goodnight. I went into my room, said my prayers, then went to bed. I hope tomorrow will be better, I thought.

I woke up and went on with my day. The first thing I do is go into the chicken coop and check for eggs. Today was different, I was walking to the barn, when I

heard my name. "ROSA SMITH!" Mr. Jones yelled. Oh no, did he find out that I forgot to feed the chickens? "Y-Yes sir? May I assist you in something?" A hand came speeding to my face, SLAP! I yelped silently and kept my tears from falling. "DID YOU FEED THE CHICKENS? DID YOU COLLECT THEIR EGGS?" I kept my mouth shut, knowing I should say something. SLAP! "ANSWER ME!" My eyes went wide open, "N-No sir." "Come with me." Mr. Jones said, variations of emotions came rushing to me, what was he going to do?

"Rosa, speak to me. What did he say?" Mama asked. "Did he hit you? Beat you?" Matilda asked me frantically. No matter how much I loved them, I kept

my mouth shut. "I won't tell you." I replied, Mama looked at me as if she was going to burst out crying. I couldn't help it no more. "Ok, fine. Mr. Jones was escorting me into the barn and told me these exact words, 'I don't understand why my wife loved you so much, you don't take your jobs seriously! I will give you one last chance, mess up, and I will have no choice but to sell you.'" Ha, no choice he says. He has all the choices he wants! All of the freedom he needs! "Rosa," Mama started, but I cut her off, "I will escape, memorize my path and take you all to freedom." Oh, how much I wished at this moment to live at the worst slum in history!

The next day, I went out to find Matilda talking to Mr. Jones' daughter, Annabeth. "Hello, Annabeth." I said, "Do you want me to clean your laundry?" Annabeth quickly shook her head, "No, Rosa. You don't deserve to live like this, neither does Matilda." I asked Annabeth if she could keep a secret, once she shook her head up and down, I whispered in her ear and said, "I am planning to escape this horrible place, no offense, and I want you to help me." Annabeth looked at me in horror, "You won't be able to survive on your own, Rosa! And I wish I could help but if Daddy found out I will be grounded for good." I silently told her thanks and then walked away. I hoped she spoke the truth. I grabbed my cup and set off to find a well.

I looked around the area for a perfect escape. Where was a good spot for a skinny eight year old to escape? Mama went up to me and said, "You forgot to put your hair in a bun, I don't want your beautiful brown hair all messy!" I smiled at her and when she finished doing my hair, she walked away and I continued to think. That night, I asked Matilda and Annabeth to meet me at the back of the barn. "Ok, so as you know, I will be escaping. But in order for me to do that, I will need plan of escape." I told them as I walked from one side to another. "There is a huge gate at the entrance, and there are guards watching it." Annabeth said. I think the only way for you to escape is by climbing over a fence near the sides." She added. "If you go from the

back, it would be way to obvious and they will catch you. Plus, you might need some sneaking clothes. Preferably dark colors." Matilda replied. I thought that was enough for tonight, so I told them to go to bed.

That morning after we were done with our chores, well, except Annabeth who doesn't need to do chores, we all met at the back of the barn. "More planning! Yesterday, we discussed escape, now we must discuss on excuse on why we are gone." I told them. "We?" Matilda asked, "You said 'we'." "Oh yeah, I was going to ask if you wanted to join me." I said sheepishly. "OF COURSE!" Matilda happily clapped her hands."Maybe we can say that you both died because of a disease,

and I can pay the guards to lie to him by telling him how they got rid of the bodies." Annabeth suggested. "Nah, maybe we can tell them that we went to go fetch water when a snake bit us and we died of the poison." Matilda argued. I thought about both excuses, and decided to go with Matilda's because they might think that a disease is spreading. Time to escape.

Annabeth sneaked us into her room and said, " I have two black dresses from a funeral." " No thanks, do you think you can find me the skinniest shirt and pants that belongs to your dad?" Matilda asked. She was older than both of us, 14, and hated wearing skirts and dresses. "I can try." Annabeth responded. Once she

found some, they changed the outfit up a bit so it would fit Matilda, then it was my turn to dress up. I had my brown hair tied up into little braids, my brown eyes would be barely visible in the night, and I had the black dress that Annabeth gave me, and some beautiful black boots. Matilda had her dark red hair tied up in a pony-tail, the black shirt and pants that Annabeth 'borrowed' from her father, and some black boots. We just needed tools now.

"Maybe we can go to my Daddy's workshop and grab some rope, bags, and a gun or two." Annabeth suggested. "Or maybe you can sew us some pockets to save space in our bags." I added, "So then we can have

the gun in one of the bags." "Sounds like a plan." Matilda said. We sneaked in to Annabeth's dad's workshop and we grabbed all of the necessary supplies. Including rope, a small knife, gunpowder, one gun, and we put our extra belongings in Matilda's bag. Now we needed food so we wouldn't die of hunger, so we had to wait until lunch time. At lunch time, Matilda, Annabeth, and I grabbed all of the food we needed. The we just needed to think of a time to escape.

I can't believe that we are leaving now. Five years here, and now I have to go. I left a note for my parents telling them where I was going, and promised to come back, and I was willing to keep that promise. Now we were

ready to escape.

Night approached and we were ready to climb the fence. Of course, the fence was very tall. We got our bags and started climbing the sheer fence. When we reached the other side, we bolted to the forest so we could hide. When we arrived at the woods, it started to smell bad, the smell was probably just the dead animals. "So, Rosa," Matilda said, trying to break the silence. "If we become free, what will you do? Will you try to enroll in school?" "No, Matilda, when we become free." I corrected her. "And when we become free, I will-" A shadow rushed past us. I started to pull out my gun when I started to hear singing. I stared

into the night, and when I heard the words "Hide" and "Soldier", I grabbed Matilda's arm and ducked into a bush.

Not a second passed when a soldier came by to scan the woods. When he could not find us, he walked away. I looked at Matilda in shock, and she surmised that people sung songs to warn others. We got up to thank the shadow, but we couldn't see him. "H-Hello?" I asked, "Is anyone there? Shadow Man?" "Now, now, didn't your mother tell you that calling names was rude?" A voice called out. "O-Oh, sorry." I said. "Are you the person who saved us?" Matilda asked.

"Yes, and we need to move, quick."

"Why? Is he coming back?"

"Yes, follow me."

"My name is Solomon." Solomon said as we walked deeper into the forest. "Matilda." "Rosa." "Very nice names." Solomon said. "Stop." Solomon said. We stopped walking and stayed still. "What is going on?"

Solomon began to sing softly, but said three words loudly, 'Hide, Tree, Left.' We looked at our left and saw a thick tree to hide in. We all rushed over there and crouched. Once the soldier left the area, we all walked out.

We continued our journey when we finally found the town. We all took separate ways to find extra supplies.

We all then reunited at the middle of town, bad idea. A person saw us and screamed, "RUNAWAY SLAVES!!!" A crowd of people rushed towards us, and we started running away. Since I was smaller, I managed to duck in a small area. Since Matilda and Solomon were taller, they could not. I saw a soldier grab Matilda, and a man hit Solomon. I wanted to scream, seeing that my friends got captured, but I could not. After the mob left, I followed the soldiers at a safe distant to try and save my friends.

About an hour later, I see that my friends were being put into a prison. I wondered how I could get in without getting recognized. "I have an idea!" I said to myself. I ran up to the entrance of the prison.

"What are you doing here?" A officer asked.

I said in my sweetest voice possible, "I am here to visit my brother."

"Oh? What's his name?"

"Solomon."

"I can't let you in if you are not with an adult." He responded. "Please, sir! He misses me oh so much!" I gave him my puppy eyes, and he couldn't refuse. "I'll let it slide this time." I smiled and I walked into the prison cells. I kept calling, "Matilda? Solomon?" Until I finally heard, "Over here!" It was Solomon, and his voice sounded horrible. I prayed he didn't look horrible too. When I found them, Solomon had

a cut on his face, and Matilda looked as if she would throw up. "What happened?" I asked, clearly worried for them."Well..."

"When the soldier caught Matilda, she growled at them and called them a word I shall never repeat. They got mad at her and punched her in the stomach. They were going to shoot her, until they decided to let her rot in jail. As for me, I kicked the soldier who was holding me, and when they let go in pain, I knocked them over and hurt them, finally, another officer came and cut me." Solomon said. I really wanted to stay, but I had to go.

I left the prison and hoped that they would be ok.

When I was leaving, I had tears down my face. I was walking for five minutes, when i turned around and saw smoke coming from the prison. I panicked and yelled, "MY FRIENDS ARE IN THERE!!" I watched as the building crumbled to the ground. I fell to my knees, crying. They are gone.

"Ow, are you OK Matilda?" Solomon asked. "Yea, I'm alright." They were lucky enough to escape in time and hide in the tall grass. "Let's go, Solomon." Matilda ordered. Seconds later, the building came down to the ground. "Whoa, that was cool." Solomon said. "No Solomon, that was not cool. People were still in there and they died. Death is not cool." Matilda shot back.

"Sorry, Matilda." Solomon apologized. "Come on, let's go find Rosa." Matilda said. And off they were, going to find each other.

They are gone. I thought as I slowly walked back to town. I missed them so much already. I started to hear movement in the grass, what could it be? I peeked in the grass to find a little bunny hopping about. "Aww, you are so cute!" I patted his head and started to walk. When I turned around, the bunny was following me. I was happy that this little bunny liked me, so I picked it up and carried it in my hands. I would let it go and run free later. I continued to walk into town.