A WISH GRANTED

Captain John Harding looked up at Samuel after taking a long drink from his canteen. "Hey Sam..." he said thoughtfully from across the fire, "We know everyone's story but yours. Care to tell it?" The soldier with a large gap toothed smile and hair the color of bananas, sitting next to the Captain said jokingly, "Unless you're hiding something?"

Samuel was unsure on sharing such a personal aspect of his life. His dark brown eyes scrunched up in deep thought. He sighed, and took a quick look at the men sitting around him in the campfire that glowed a mixture of red, orange and yellow. They were eating small portions of the company's rations. Beans, hardtack, salted meat as well as other items and it all needed to last until the next shipment, and no one knew when that would be. Some of the men had faces as dark as Samuel's and others had faces that were pale as milk. He took a moment to remember the life he had before this one; when he didn't know any of these men and concluded with a gleaming and slightly yellow smile that he loved the life he had now.

He then decided to share his journey with his comrades, that way the obstacles it took to get where he was would never be forgotten. Taking a deep breath Samuel said resignedly...

"I used to be a field slave for the Drayton Family. It was horrible, and I hated it. The work was tiring because we worked from sunrise to sunset and they didn't allow us to sit or rest. If at any point we stopped, we were hit with whips or clubs. I was bored with my work and had no drive to do it. It was the same everyday, " Samuel pointed out stressing the last syllable on the word.

Clearing his throat he continued, "I felt like I was wasting my life away planting and picking cotton. It was like working in an oven, that's how hot it was in the fields. We only stopped when it was too dark to see our hands in front of our faces. After that we still had no free time, exhausted with the day's events and we slept like rocks on our stiff, hay-filled pallets. To me, the plantation was just a dark and sad place. I dreaded waking up each day."

"I felt the same way." a former slave mumbled sadly, as other men with dark skin nodded in agreement.

"As a young boy at the age of 17, I was angry and bitter about the life I'd been handed. I wanted a change. I was sick of the sympathetic looks from the only friends I had there, Mary and Elijah. They knew the life I longed for. They couldn't understand why I wouldn't accept the way we lived. Working everyday, and every hour. I spent most of my young days dreaming of when I would have the life of freedom like my masters. It's taking awhile but I feel like we're close to freeing all slaves," Samuel announced proudly.

Suddenly, a loud cheer went up from the surrounding troops. Shaking himself out of his reverie, he heard a couple of people shout, "Go Union!" Therefore, he decided to keep quiet until the noise died down.

He then uttered quietly, "I wanted to run, and the others thought that foolish because we had heard of the stories from the neighboring plantations. Slaves who thought themselves intelligent enough to run and got caught. Their punishments were severe. There were stories of mutilation, another of torture, and even more about murder. I knew it would take careful planning. So, that's what I did." It was so late in the day, the sound of crickets and the light of fireflies could be seen and heard. Samuel however kept speaking only slightly louder.

"I spent months, listening for the best plan of action. Then one day, an old man from our plantation escaped. When slaves heard he got away their mouths dropped open with shock for they couldn't comprehend such a thing. I decided to ask the family he left behind how he did it."

The heat of the flames from the fire died down leaving behind an icy cold gust of wind. The troops that hadn't headed off to bed huddled together and resembled a group of penguins trying to keep the warmth in.

"They told me that his first step was to choose where to head off to. Some runaway slaves headed north, some went even farther north to Canada, and others went elsewhere. The fugitive slave act of 1850 made it hard to stay in the area, because our masters or other masters could claim us at any time. I decided I was going to go north. Hiding in abolitionist's houses and in the wilderness until I arrived.

My plan was to join a group a slaves traveling in something called the Underground Railroad. It was led by a Harriet Tubman who was known for never losing anyone." One of the black men in the group with visible whipping scars on his face said excitedly "I met her before!-", but was quickly cut off by the men anticipating hearing the rest of the Sam's story.

"One woman, who also intended to go with the group, told me that the first safe house had bright green shutters that I couldn't miss in the daylight. So when I was hired out to a smaller plantation, I made my escape." He was interrupted by a yawn that spread like wildfire.

Yet, he spoke still, "I hid in the woods for the first night couple of nights. Eating cornbread as I walked and sleeping in the trees. The first chance I had I ran through any streams or rivers I could find. I needed to mask my scent from the vicious but reliable dogs I knew Master Drayton had. I used markings on the trees to guide me to the safe house. When I got there, I felt an invisible weight drop off my back. The group had set a deadline for the slaves moving on to the stagecoach. I had made it hours before, which meant I got a hot meal and much needed sleep. The stagecoach would be uncomfortable because it would be taking us all across the state of Virginia to Delaware under the pretence of carrying dead Confederate bodies." Samuel looked up to see the shudders of revulsion.

"In the wagon it stank and I was reminded of rotten fish. The wounds were terrifying. Bullets holes and severed limbs were reoccurring. Some still dripped dark red blood. It was also colder than I've ever experienced. We could see our breath when we breathed as we laid under the bodies. It was also dead silent. The only noise being clank of the wheels as they moved. Our next move after Delaware was to New York, where the famous Frederick Douglass resided. My plan was to lay low there until I was just another forgotten fugitive." He paused to take a sip of water offered to him as his voice cracked on the last word he spoke.

"When we finally arrived in Delaware a man inspected our vehicle. We waited with baited breath for the man to discover us. I kept my eyes closed and held my breath as his fingers inspected my entire body. From there we went back to house hopping in the woods. As we passed through a particularly long transition to the next house we heard shouts behind us. Barking and yells of "There up ahead!" were heard. My heart was in my throat as I ran with other terrified slaves. I couldn't believe we had made it this far only to be brought back!" Desperation was obvious in Samuel's tone as he relieved the painful memories.

"We all knew there was no escaping, but we still urged our legs to go faster. The dogs were let loose and I could hear their paws slap against the Earth as they chased us. Screams broke out as the dogs leaped onto the backs of the slaves falling behind. I ran faster than I ever had before. It wasn't enough. I tripped over a protruding root and fell flat on my face.

The sense of failure filled my body but that was soon overridden by pain as the dogs bit into skin creating flaps of flesh. We were all transported back to South Carolina. Injured, beyond belief of course. That was only the first round of torture. We were beat continuously by our master. Then the wounds had salt pressed into them to make it hurt even more. Many died from the attacks. I was one of the few who survived. Although, I was heavily scarred. The lines of raised skin crisscrossed each other in various places on my body. We were kept on watch and worked even more than before." Samuel could sense the looks of pity from the guys around him.

"I wanted to escape again. Now that I'd gotten a taste of freedom, I wanted more. The only hindrance was the timing. It was cold, and icy. Wintertime, just as it is now. I was determined to go still and told my friends of my plans to leave again, but they convinced me to wait until it was warmer, and wait I did."

Another voice interrupted abruptly, "Sorry to stop your story Private, but you boys need your rest. We all have work that needs to be done in the morning." said General Brandon McAllen. Disappointment was evident on everyone's faces, as they were desperate to know the history behind one of their companions. "I can continue when we come across a break tomorrow." Samuel said decidedly. The men said goodnight and headed off to their separate tents.

Hours later, Samuel laid in his tent unable to sleep. He couldn't stop thinking about the rest of his tale. He didn't have to wait long for a better time to make another and hopefully successful escape, because everything basically flew into place on September 22nd of year 1862. President Lincoln made an announcement that would change his life.

He threatened to free all slaves in rebel slave states unless they returned to the Union by a certain date. Mary and Elijah were ecstatic, they needed to wait just a few more months until they were legally free and be able to help the process in getting all their other brothers and sisters from non-rebel states free too. So, on January 1st of the New Year 1863, when Abraham Lincoln officially declared the Emancipation Proclamation to be legal, all slaves on the Drayton plantation rejoiced.

(Male) African-Americans could now join the army and that's exactly what Samuel did. He went north to New York as he originally planned. Spent time doing odd jobs and then joined the Union at a recruitment rally because he still felt as though he was missing something in his life.

He then became Private Samuel Abraham (in honor of the man who gave him the life he desired) and fulfilled the hole in his heart that desired a family. That's what his troop was to him, a family. And as all stories end, he got his happily ever after. With that last thought ringing around his head, Samuel slipped into a peaceful sleep.