WITH THE STARS FLICKERING AROUND US, UNDER GOD’S WATCHFUL EYES, I FELT SAFE. WE WERE HIGH ABOVE ALL THE DANGER, HOPELESSNESS AND TURMOIL OF THIS WORLD. AS LONG AS WE WERE FLYING, WE WOULD FIND NO TROUBLE. INSTEAD, TROUBLE FOUND US.
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SUMMARY: THE STORY SO FAR…
Josiah, a young slave 12 years of age, lives in a cabin in the slave quarters of a Virginia tobacco plantation with Auntie Bee, Mose, the plantation handyman, two young children, Randall and Emily. He notices Mose leaving the cabin in the middle of the night and follows him to his secret workshop in the woods where Mose is building some sort of strange contraption. Mose tells him it is a machine that will fly him to freedom. Now that he knows Mose’s secret, he stays to help build the flier. After mishaps, false starts and setbacks—the flier tumbles down the mountain and is seriously damaged—they are attacked by snakes—mountain lions lurk all around them—they realize someone has been spying on them and they think their escape plan has been discovered. Finally, their time has come. Now they are in the air, riding on the wings of the wind.
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Despite all the excitement, soon we drifted off to sleep. We were exhausted. Even though we had no work up there our energy was spent. Flying takes a lot out of you, with the wind constantly blowing in your face, concern about keeping on course and avoiding obstacles in our path, and, of course, the job of not falling off.
I slept like a baby. It was a peaceful sleep, not only because I was so tired but because I knew that up there, way above the earth, I really was free. It didn’t matter what state we were in, whether it was north or south. Up here, we were above the law. We were in God’s Kingdom. And under God’s law, every creature is free.
Already we felt like we were free. Randall wanted to bring frogs and fireflies with him and who knows what else—and he did just that. He was
free to say no to me when I wanted him to show me what was in his pocket. That was his decision to make.
I was just as free to make decisions and at the time I decided to let him be. I figured it was best to be smart and back off so as not to kick up a fuss. And later on, he changed his mind and decided to show me anyway. So, I think I made a good decision.
Soon, we will have to decide things on our own with only our Mother Wit to help us make our own good judgments. When you’re free you have to know what to do about everything—and I can tell you, it is not as easy as it sounds.
But that’s freedom. If you make a mistake you can try again and no one will whip you for it.
We slept well that night, even though we were huddled up against each other so close we couldn’t move. You couldn’t stretch out. You couldn’t get comfortable. You had to watch yourself so you didn’t roll over and bump somebody, accidentally pushing them off in your sleep.
And there was the hole. Since that first step onto the flier when I put my foot through the cloth, the tear kept growing and spreading. One corner
of the cloth was completely detached from the frame. Now the hole was big enough for two of us to fall through.
As long as we stayed put we would be alright. Here, with the stars flickering around us, under God’s watchful eye, I felt safe. We were high above all the danger, hopelessness and turmoil of this world. Nothing bad could touch us. As long as we were flying, we would find no trouble.
Instead, trouble found us.
Posted By: Richard Kigel
Saturday, June 26th 2010 at 9:57PM
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