Black Plantation

by Psychoflop

Where white people are the slaves

p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"span style="text-decoration: underline;"Prologue: ...Before a fall/span/p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;""Good riddance to the past..."/p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"One would think that Chevi Elrod would have said something more as the mansion that served as the de facto home of her and her friends (and fellow slaves) slowly burning to the ground, but the malaise that permeated in this version of New Orleans quickly crossed the fine line into apathy all too often, especially amongst the population of white people. She pulled off a rubber band that had kept her hair back, letting her blonde hair, as dirty as the south that she had lived in, fall down just a couple of inches past her shoulders. Her as well as the 7 other people in her general vicinity still wore the rags that came with their being beyond the point of downtrodden. Some of them were lucky enough to have makeshift shoes made from cut up parts of potato bags, others were barefoot, it didn't really matter who amongst them wore what./p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"The fire was a perfect contrast to the moonlight all around them, complimented by the fireflies in the vicinity. Chevi was not the only one who smiled at the beauty of the dark mother nature, but her smile was the brightest amongst the 8 (as she was youngest). Krystal Dinn-Welsh began to look around her, wondering why the police hadn't already arrived. She turned to her civil partner (as marriage was illegal in Louisiana if you were white), Justin and asked:/p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;""Is the state of the law as broken as our now former home?"/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"Justin wrapped his arms around Krystal, both of them smelling each others brown hair as Justin responded "All of New Orleans is decaying, if not the entire southern United States. Too bad we won't be here if a civil rights movement starts"/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;""Yeah" said Nicholas Brodie while he chuckled morbidly and ran his fingers through his red hair. "Either we'll be free, relocated to another plantation if we're not recognized, or killed if we are recognized and thrown into the Gulf of Mexico as us cauckers are beneath the sanctity of a proper burial in Lafayette Cemetery, or any cemetery in the state of Louisiana for that matter. At least in Mississippi they have segregated cemeteries: Blacks only and Cauckers"/p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"Cauckers. That was this world's degrading word of choice, a slight at all white people that was a portmanteau between the words "Caucasian" and "Cracker". One would assume that Nicholas used the word as a way of ever so slightly devaluing the word as a word of offence, if escape wasn't on the minds of everyone. But they all agreed to put aside their desire to get to freedom long enough to make sure the place was completely destroyed first. Nicholas buried his head into the shoulders of Kate Broadbent, his best friend and confidante on the plantation. Partly because he cared about her, partly because the smoke of the fire got to his eyes./p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;""I actually feel sorry for the Marijuana plants that are likely already on fire or will be shortly. Every insect for miles will be high for weeks" said Kate./p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"Phoenix was the first to laugh at that attempt at humour, Holly was the last. But from a distance, no one and no thing could tell. Everyone cut marijuana leaves at the plantation, except one: David Ross. He was not the tallest slave in the state, but pound for pound, he was the strongest. So it was his job to put all of the smaller 10 pound bags together into a much larger brown burlap sack that could carry 500 pounds with ease. His rags hid that there was not an ounce of fat on him, on any other planet, he'd be a professional wrestler./p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"span style="text-decoration: underline;"36 Hours Earlier/span/p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;"Having one's mouth gagged while being whipped for disobedience was never of any comfort to the one who was being whipped, it only served to comfort the one doing the whipping, as it prevented them from hearing the agony of the screams heard, if only to suppress guilt...or enjoyment./p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;"Plantations of a generation past would have a head slave administer the whipping rather than a plantation master, but with the economy of the entire southern United States in slow decline, this plantation's owner did the whipping personally. No one on the plantation knew his name, but he was a tall, intimidating black man. His hands were disturbingly steady, and his head had been freshly shaven not even a week ago./p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;"Those were the only details that Chevi could make out as she was being whipped, and that was still too much information for her or anyone else./p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"span style="text-decoration: none;""/spanspan style="text-decoration: none;"That's twenty. Twenty lashes for the crime of trying to take break with the boy s/spanspan style="text-decoration: none;"laves/spanspan style="text-decoration: none;" instead of the girl s/spanspan style="text-decoration: none;"lave/spanspan style="text-decoration: none;". Return to your daily chores. You're to go downtown and sell every of ounce of our fine/spanspan style="text-decoration: none;"ly/spanspan style="text-decoration: none;" cultivated Marijuana. Now put your clothes back on."/span/p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"span style="text-decoration: none;"C/spanspan style="text-decoration: none;"hevi did as instructed, then made a move towards a nearby beige burlap sack where she could barely read the words "100 pounds" written across the middle of it./span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;""That won't be necessary, Nicholas already filled my 500 pounder. How he moved the bag at all without David Ross carrying it is a mystery to me, but I don't really care enough to solve it. He's waiting for you at the boat down by the bayou, dismissed." replied the owner. Chevi nodded and turned around, heading for the stable door that lead outside./p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;"The owner then gently patted her bottom, she pretended to not feel it as she heard the going rate for rejecting an act of affection from a slave owner would result in a minimum of 50 lashes (even though engaging in 'relations' with slaves was frowned upon, it was not illegal either)./p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"span style="text-decoration: none;"Chevi made it /spanspan style="text-decoration: none;"about/spanspan style="text-decoration: none;" halfway from the abandoned horse stable that had served as both the slave's quarters and the proverbial "woodshed" to the bayou on the south end of the property before she began crying. This was not the first time she had been whipped for acting like a boy, in fact she had correctly guessed that her back was more scars than /spanspan style="text-decoration: none;"it was/spanspan style="text-decoration: none;" skin /spanspan style="text-decoration: none;"these days/spanspan style="text-decoration: none;". She quickly regained her composure when she got to within a quarter mile of the bayou, as she saw a small boat that had belonged to her employer. It was a simple white boat with a black motor on the rear. She then smiled at the site of Nicholas Brodie, who was already prepping the boat for departure (which was mainly rolling a 500 pound bag of pot /spanspan style="text-decoration: none;"onto the back of the boat). If Chevi did not value her fellow plantation slaves as /spanspan style="text-decoration: none;"her/spanspan style="text-decoration: none;" friends, her spirit would be as broken as the society that was around her. Both Chevi and Nicholas appreciated the makeshift walking trail that lead from the south end of the Marijuana crops leading all the way to the Bayou, as it was a very scenic 2 mile walk among the nature that was in a somewhat less state of dying than /spanspan style="text-decoration: none;"the/spanspan style="text-decoration: none;" developed properties /spanspan style="text-decoration: none;"that were adjacent to it/spanspan style="text-decoration: none;"./span/p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;""Good morning, Mr. Brodie" she said politely as she reached the boat. Nicholas began to hug her, then backed off. On this warm Saturday morning, he could smell as well as see her most recent punishment (the blood and scars, respectively) and realized that his gesture of affectionate greeting would merely harm her further, at least physically, probably psychologically too./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;""Good morning, Miss Elrod" he said while trying not to cry in empathy for his young friend./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"span style="text-decoration: none;""I got 20 for not acting like a 'Miss'. And yet I still had time to get dolled up for our outing downtown." /spanspan style="text-decoration: none;"she said sarcastically, indicating that she didn't enjoy being feminine./span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;""We both did. It's the only time of the week we're properly bathed and clothed. For whatever it's worth, you look lovely this morning." said Nicholas, making sure that prepping the boat for travel did not tarnish the black dress pants and pure white collared shirt that their master had made him wear. Chevi wore full makeup and a red house dress with a magnolia pattern all across it (a bit baggy, she had determined that it was likely from a thrift store somewhere in New Orleans). Both wore matching white Panama hats to protect them from the already intense heat and sunlight of the day./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;""My lips feel like sandpaper, and I keep ingesting glitter" Chevi replied, deciding to remove the thin veil of sarcasm from her speech entirely. Nicholas nodded politely, not knowing how to empathize with his travel companion's disdain for makeup at times./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;""Are you ready to go?" he asked as he surveyed the motor of the boat, looking for the cord to get it started. Chevi nodded and sat at the front of the boat. White people did not usually receive an education after the 8supth/sup grade (and anything beyond 2supnd/sup or 3suprd/sup grade had to be sponsored by someone, which often was in exchange for their slavery later), but she knew enough common sense to know that her and Nicholas sitting at the front of the boat (after Nicholas got the boat started, which he did almost instantly) would balance the heavy cargo (the 500 pound bag of pot) at the rear of the boat. Once they were travelling down the bayou, their only concerns were alligators attacking the boat (who seemed to be sleeping at the moment) and the various insects trying to get at them and the pot (namely blackflies, gnats and mosquitoes)./p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;""It's a good thing that we live in a place where pot is legal. Then again, I brought more dangerous cargo with us today." said Nicholas./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;"Chevi merely raised an eyebrow in curiosity, Nicholas pointed to a spot underneath the wooden board that Chevi was sitting on. She scooched over 6 inches to the left and reached under the board: She found 2 small books, one labelled "Mechanisms" and the other labelled "Film-tier". Her eyes and smile lifted up immediately./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;""I didn't know which one to bring with us today. Film-tier has more of us in it that you know, namely Justin, Krystal and Kate. But Holly and Phoenix are in Mechanisms, and that story is quite a bit lighter in tone."/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;""I don't really care, I'm just so happy I'm finally going to improve my reading. But why aren't you in any of these? Or David Ross? Or me for that matter?" she asked./p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;"Nicholas nodded, having expected that question from her for days, if not weeks. "The Aaron on this world, assuming he's even still alive, which is unlikely, he's gotta be very deep in hiding to get these to the rest of us without getting himself caught and killed. For each story that he writes, I'm guessing that he is limited to how many of us he uses in them, unless it's one of the really big ones. I have yet to find one with me in it, or Mr. Ross. I did have a dream once where I may or may not have met the original Aaron Collins. He seemed evasive and shy, but told me that you were special, and were going to change things in his verse at a paradigm level. I think we should go with Film-tier, as I just remembered that Mechanisms has some foreign language in it that even I struggle to read for the most part."/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;""I trust your judgement, and not just because it's at least 50 lashes for each of us if we're caught. And that's if we don't just get put back on the slave market or killed instead" said Chevi, halfway between scared and not giving a shit. Nicholas pointed at the words for Chevi to read out:/p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;""emBarter makes the Russia go 'round.../em/p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal;"February 1supst/sup, 2014, Julian Calendar – Khabarovsk, Russia/p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;"It was an expression everyone had known across the Eurasian frontier for well over a century, and it constantly held true. Oh sure, money still existed in this world (especially in towns as remote as Khabarovsk) but societies thrived on trade, especially trade in lands with little law. The Russian government's policy was to let its' citizens alone save for harming other citizens. But the definition of "harm" was a grey area that many could define."/p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;"Chevi read it flawlessly, despite not knowing what a Julian Calendar, Eurasian, Khabarovsk and Russian were. Not even Nicholas knew what those were with any certainty as they reached downtown New Orleans. The market was vibrant and full of life, and they set up shop inside the International Trade Mart on Canal street (a pink Neo-Gothic building). As much as they enjoyed the break from the plantation, Chevi enjoyed something even more, as did Nicholas./p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;""Transistor Air conditioning" they both declared while smiling./p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT"To the west of where Chevi and Nicholas had initially departed the Black Plantation, Justin and Krystal had separate (but related) assignments. Their master was hungry for local cuisine, and had sent Krystal to catch frogs and Justin to wrestle alligators. Both jobs had about the same level of difficulty, albeit for different reasons. Krystal had no formal equipment to catch frogs, other than a small baseball bat to knock them unconscious, a pair of gloves designed to combat their slimy exterior, and an old potato bag to keep them in. The one and only occasion where she asked her master for more modern equipment lead to her receiving 5 lashes, she never asked again./p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT"Krystal was actually the lucky one, as Justin technically didn't have any equipment at all other than his sense of cunning and his physical strength. While Krystal merely had to roll the rags that passed for her pants up to her knees to keep them dry, Justin had no such luxury./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""Are they in the middle of the swamp today?" asked Krystal. Justin nodded, followed by a dejected sigh. He then immediately took off all of his rags and walked into the swamp water. He couldn't even put his hands in front of his crotch to protect his penis from any of the putrid life in the swamp...biting something off. If he did, he was handicapped for his upcoming fight with the first alligator that he saw./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""Tell me again why we never saw these in Newfoundland before we were kidnapped and sold into slavery during a trip to Maine." Krystal asked while dividing her focus between clubbing frogs in the head and staring at her lover's naked body (purely out of concern for her co-worker of course)./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""They're cold-blooded animals, like the slave owners around here. They need to stay in warmer parts of the world in order to survive. I once caught a glimpse of a map, there's so many more of them in Florida that I'd be doing this every day if we lived there instead. It wouldn't just be a special assignment that I 'volunteer' for every Saturday." he replied while staring intently at what barely passed for water around him./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""Define volunteer?" asked Krystal cynically./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""Wrestle Alligators, or be whipped indefinitely until I change my mind or die from the trauma" replied Justin knowing full well that Krystal had asked that question rhetorically. He then said "Shhhh" as he saw movement in the water that was too big to be a salamander or a snake. He then submerged himself completely into the water, confirming an Alligator sighting./p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""Thank god he's not looking directly at me" Justin thought to himself while repeatedly punching the alligator in the back of the head. Once in a while, the first punch is sufficient to cause enough trauma to kill the alligator without it suffering, but this was not one of those times. It took 2 additional punches and an elbow strike to the back of the head to finally kill the alligator. This was of little effort for Justin, but dragging a dead alligator through a swamp and onto dry land took considerably more of his energy. Krystal stared at him, to check that nothing had bitten him without his knowing (or in the case of leech, was still stuck to him, quietly draining him of his blood)./p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""Got any more energy for me?" she asked with a smile...Justin was happy to oblige in "wrestling" her./p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT"They were done nearly 3 hours later./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""It's worth 100 lashes and exile from the trader's block, to make love to you, my dearest Mr. Welsh." whispered Krystal./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""It's worth my execution to make love to you, my dear Miss Dinn-Welsh." replied Justin./p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT"The alligator in the bag then started twitching (indicating a death rattle of some kind). It was Krystal who punched it to stop, and not Justin./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""You've been paying attention to how I work" said Justin with a smile, thoroughly impressed with his partner./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""Of course, not like women slaves can be formally trained in alligator wrestling anyway." replied Krystal./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""Don't worry, If we can have sex behind our master's back, I can train you to wrestle alligators."/p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT"They became aroused again./p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT"It outraged Holly internally to no end, planting a plant that was designed to get people high. But the last time she vocalized her hatred of planting marijuana in the ground, she received 15 lashes in front of every other slave. She would ask her master why that is the one crime where a slave is not whipped privately, but that would lead to another 5 lashes. Holly also had the distinction of being the only slave in the history of this plantation to be taken to the hospital for developing staph infection in some of her lash scars. Others were left to die in the eyes of all of the other slaves, whether it be from the staph infection itself or gangrene in the wounds. This was of no comfort to Holly whatsoever./p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT"David Ross had watched more of them die than any other slave on the Black Plantation (as he was known as a "journeyman", someone who was put on the auction block often, but not for any negative reason), his mental scars of them ran deeper inside of him than the physical scars of any slave caused by the lashes. He didn't talk much to the other slaves, or their master for that matter. Instead he just focused on his daily duties to the plantation (and constantly looking around when there were other people around, sometimes even talking to them in secret, which confused the other slaves of the Black Plantation to no end). Today, it was measuring the Marijuana plants. He knew how to read numbers (and thus, use a measuring tape) better than any other slave in the state of Louisiana, and between that and his physical stature (he could deadlift 750 pounds), he was actually the most expensive slave in the state as well (arguably the country, for that matter). He even scared the other slaves a little, as he could easily do the physical work of any 3 of them. He even focused more on his tape measure (a simple black and white metal one) when Holly approached him./p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""I'm all finished, I planted all 36 seeds I was given by our master last night. With summer on the horizon, that'll make a lot more for you to pull out of the ground so that we can all cut it down to sell in town every Saturday." said Holly, knowing that David was a tad reserved (being, technically, the veteran who saw so much turnover in multiple plantations, he decided not to get attached). She never once passed judgement on him, and promised herself that she never would. David nodded, then opened his mouth./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""From Detective, to Minister, to recovering Drug Addict to Athlete of a very strange sport...and those are only the 4 most known versions of you in the underground writings I'm not supposed to acquire and hand out across the plantations." spoke David plainly, followed by winking at Holly./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""Good guess. As I understand from that strange fight we all had in that strange version of Philadelphia, there's at least several thousand versions of me. Part of me wishes I had died there, as I would've died free from this plantation. You were actually bought because our versions of Michelle Torres and a couple of others didn't come back. That was an awkward lie to tell the master: They had tried to escape, but we drowned them, then fed them to the gators, hence why there were no bodies. How I know who you replaced despite you getting here before I did is a mystery to me. I don't even remember overhearing our master talk about it."/p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT"David Ross actually chuckled at what must have been the most surreal scene in some of their lives: Lying to a slave owner, knowing full well that he couldn't prove that they were lying and if he whipped them as punishment, he would be banned from attending the slave auctions for the rest of his life. That was literally the only protection that Cauckers had in this America: An owner can never punish an innocent slave. Of course, slaves could be very easily coerced into making false confessions (and then whipped as a result of that). If not by their owners directly, than by the local sheriffs./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""I don't remember much about that strange Philadelphia. Only that I was part of what became the 'Tyrone' character as I mostly protected people, especially that Jason guy. I'm glad that he found Lianna, supposedly that's how Aaron knows me on a few other worlds, through those 2 people. Hope I meet him some day, maybe then I can debut in his stories. I doubt I'm interesting enough on this world to be written about, though." said David Ross, hoping that Holly wouldn't question him further, as he was keeping a secret that he wasn't quite ready to reveal to the others just yet./p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT"David Ross then stood up and took his shirt off, letting his long black hair blow in the wind: Holly was mesmerized by an upper body completely lacking any body fat (She had never seen a fellow slave with visible stomach muscles before, unless they were being starved...a punishment only reserved for slaves who stopped reacting to the whipping). David then turned around, where Holly made an even more shocking discovery:/p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""You've never been whipped before, how is that possible? At your age, more than half of your back should be covered in scars." said Holly very rapidly, and possibly in shock./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""Two things. 1, I'm not that much older than you. 2, If you were a slave owner, would you try to whip me without some backup, given what you've just seen of my physique?"/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""No, I suppose not. How do you...maintain it?" she asked, trying not to stare at anything lower than his face./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""I get about half the sleep you guys do as I exercise on top of whatever work I do for the master. Either I've never been caught, or each of my masters ignores my body as I'm a good worker." was the answer that David gave. Holly wasn't entirely sure if she believed it or not, but decided not to ask any other questions about it, instead changing the subject entirely./p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""You're from that land in the far, far north, right?" she asked. David nodded, knowing that's what some of the less literate slaves knew to be Canada./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""What's it like? Are we treated worse up there?" asked Holly./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT"David looked around, not seeing any slaves (or anyone else) in the vicinity, before walking towards Holly, answering "It used to be, but we recently came into a new government: Civil Libertarianism: The rights of every person are of the highest order."/p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT"Holly looked at him, utterly confused. She knew that David had in fact, said English words, but they were well beyond the level of education that she had been given, or any slave should have been in America. David seemingly recognized this, then answered "Long ago, America had a piece of paper that told people how America would work, it said the words 'All men are created equal'. Now, Canada is changing to make it so that everyone actually is equal, no matter which gender they are. Now be silent!"/p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT"Holly nodded, and began to think of that land in the far, far, north!/p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT"Kate and Phoenix were the resident maids of the plantation, and were thus granted immunity from the day to day outside chores of the rest of the slaves. They wore matching outfits, predominantly white but with black lace around the neck and bottom of the miniskirt (which ended about 3 inches above the knees). The two of them came to a ladies' agreement that each one would alternate floors of the house each day, then whoever finished first would come help the other one. Today, it was Kate's turn to clean the second floor while Phoenix remained on the main floor. Kate was the one to finish first (which was always the case, on account of her being 6 inches taller than Phoenix, she could clean the higher places more easily). She walked down the stairs to find Phoenix taking some dishes from the dining room to the kitchen./p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""OK, she's almost finished. With my help we're done for the day in 10-15 minutes, tops." she whispered to herself. She made sure that not even Phoenix heard her say that as she reached the dining room. When Phoenix re-entered, she made sure to avoid making eye contact with Kate as she began to work. To be perfectly fair, it was hard for Kate to look at Phoenix directly, for the exact same reason./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""Had us both again last night?" asked Kate. Phoenix eventually nodded in total shame, then began looking at Kate, as though a weight had been lifted off of her shoulders. Then she began to talk, fighting the urge to cry./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""I'm probably going to have trouble using the bathroom for the next few days, but I've been used by 'larger' men in other plantations."/p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT"Kate stared at Phoenix as she confided in her, completely horrified. "This has been the only plantation I've ever worked as my parents sold me off back home in Canada the day I turned 12. I've been here nearly a quarter of a century, I was even given a special education exemption when I became the head slave. But that doesn't exempt our owner from taking you in the ass last night...or me in my mouth. My sore throat is nothing compared to my morbid curiosity as to which one of us he had first."/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""I think I went first, this time. But I have no evidence to prove it either way. This is actually the nicest plantation that I've ever worked in." confided Phoenix./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""Exactly how many..." started Kate./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""11, counting this one." finished Phoenix on cue, having heard the question asked of her many times before./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""I would've lost count by now if I were in your position. Fuck, half the cauckers in Louisiana probably can't even count to 11, much less live on a plantation without being killed for the disobedience if they ever did count to 11 without the master's permission" said Kate in an attempt to be sympathetic. Phoenix sighed in a manner that suggested reluctance, then she lifted her skirt to show Kate a crudely done black ink tattoo on the back of her right thigh in a series of vertical black lines, letters and numbers./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""Shit. I heard that some owners went with barcode tattooing their slaves, but I never actually believed it until now." stated Kate in disbelief./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""It's how I taught myself how to read, in point of fact. The letters are the official abbreviations of each state I've been a slave in. The numbers are the Zip Codes that the Post Office uses to send mail to anyone, especially if they're black. I have 6 others like the ones I showed you, scattered across my body. 3 of my...previous employers used piercings instead of tattoos to mark their territory, so to speak. Right eyebrow, dual lip piercings and my tongue were where those were located."/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""I remember seeing them when you were first brought in. I was curious as to why you had them and why you removed them." said Kate./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""It was our owner's request to have them removed from me, actually. One of the few requests of a master I had no problem abiding by, actually. He actually got me for next to nothing at the slave auctions because of my rebellious attitude and the tattoos cheapening my market value, as they can't be removed without damaging me permanently. But what I said earlier is still valid, be glad this owner only takes us in the ass and in the mouth. I didn't lose my virginity of my own choice and have secretly had 4 children to 4 different slave owners. I'd like to think that they all got networked back to...what was it that Aaron called that place? Oh, right, Saskatchewan! But as at least one of them is of age, I probably have a daughter on the slave market right now. Do you have any idea what that's like? Having a child you can't even see, much less be able to hug at night?"/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""In point of fact, I do. I've had 2 secret children myself. The first one is also probably on the market somewhere, the other was sent to live in an institution on account of her being 'too mentally deficient to even be worthy of the status of a slave'." said Kate coldly./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""Is that why he picks your mouth?" asked Phoenix./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""I imagine so, while we've never discussed it, he must know he's gotten me with child twice. His pulling some strings to make sure the second one was institutionalized and not 'accidentally killed' is one of the few kindnesses he's ever given me. No human being should ever suffer what us cauckers go through, especially the girls."/p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT"Kate and Phoenix then heard a grandfather clock chiming once off in another room (probably the living room, by their combined guess). It told them that it was 1 o'clock in the afternoon./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""I wonder what's on. Especially since our owner became one of the first in the state to get a colour transistor image box" lamented Kate./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""Fuck it, I'll risk the 10 lashes turning the television on without the owner's permission. Maybe his whipping scars will cover up 2 or 3 of my barcodes." said Phoenix. Kate recognized that as 1 of the higher gestures of respect that 1 slave could give to another: taking the lashes for a crime committed. It wasn't hard for either of them to turn it on (as their long hair was tied back, blonde for Kate, black for Phoenix) but the 5 seconds of silence before something came on the television was odd for them./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""As I understand it, it takes longer for a colour TV to turn on as the transistor tubes need longer to warm up." guessed Kate, Phoenix merely shrugged as the image came on: "Morning News, Washington State" written in silver letters on a blue background./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""We get reception from that far?" asked Phoenix./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""Yes, that giant metal dish out back works wonders. You can receive almost all of America with it on a clear day like today" answered Kate./p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT"emGood morning, Washington and Oregon, on with the news. Our top story this morning: A plantation is left in ruins near Seattle after a mass escape occurred of 27 slaves./em/p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""Good god, how big is THAT plantation?" asked Kate./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""Or how rich is the owner? There is a group of them in this country that buy redundant slaves. That way they can have them killed instead of whipped for their 'uselessness' and it drives more fear into each of the other slaves." replied Phoenix./p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT"em4 of them remain unaccounted for while 23 were caught and executed by firing squad immediately today at sunrise./em/p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT"Both Kate and Phoenix actually cheered both sides of that statistic. Neither of them knew which was more free: Being unaccounted for somewhere in the Pacific Northwest (at least) or being dead and thus "relieved of all further duties"./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""At least in Washington, women can get jobs on television. Down here, we can't even work for the post office like how a few white male slaves can, and do." said Phoenix./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""span style="font-style: normal;"She doesn't have it any better. The colour picture of the TV serves to only enhance the black around her eyes" replied Kate pragmatically while pointing at the glass screen. Phoenix got mad at herself for not even noticing /spanspan style="font-style: normal;"that/spanspan style="font-style: normal;", having been trained to ignore the inj/spanspan style="font-style: normal;"uries of /spanspan style="font-style: normal;"her /spanspan style="font-style: normal;"fellow slaves./span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""What the hell kind of Aaronworld is this? For life to be this cheap?" Asked Phoenix in a barely restrained rage./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""span style="font-style: normal;"I'm guessing one he doesn't focus on /spanspan style="font-style: normal;"very/spanspan style="font-style: normal;" much, especially after he granted everyone freewill except for when he's writing." /spanspan style="font-style: normal;"replied Kate softly./span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""I think that he's lost track of me completely, actually. I haven't been written about in so long." said Phoenix, eternally sad./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""span style="font-style: normal;"And I don't think I'll ever love a man after what the master's done to me. For what it's worth, you're still /spanspan style="font-style: normal;"beautiful, with all of your...brandings." said Kate. She then moved in and kissed Phoenix on the lips. Phoenix momentarily returned the passion, then she remembered that Kate wasn't a man. She immediately pulled back./span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""It's not the risk of getting killed by the master that stopped the kiss. I just...don't feel that way about women. Though I do care about you for being the kindest head slave I've ever known, and my rejecting you is not a slight on how beautiful you are yourself." replied Phoenix./p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""Thank you, and if we're to ever be free, we're to respect the civil rights of each other. I respect that you only like men." said Kate with a smile. Then they embraced as friends./p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal;" align="LEFT"span style="text-decoration: underline;"24 Hours Earlier/span/p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT"It was now Saturday evening, and all of the duties of the slaves were done for the day. Tomorrow was Sunday, the day of rest for the slaves. But given the level of strife in this broken society, their options for their day off were extremely limited. In something of an odd pairing, Krystal returned to the swamplands. Only this time, she brought Phoenix with her instead of Justin./p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""So, what's this big surprise you have?" asked Krystal, in an almost mocking tone. Phoenix then pulled something out from under her off-white rags that she had been almost cradling like a child during the entire walk to the bayou. It was a transistor radio./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""How...the hell...did you get that? God knows we wouldn't make enough to buy one of those with even a year's 'wages'." said Krystal in complete shock./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal;" align="LEFT"span style="text-decoration: none;""I put it together from various parts I picked up over the years...and plantations. The circuits inside were where I started. I got them from a dumpster behind a radio station near a job I was doing in Memphis. The outer body was glued together from various pieces of scrap plastic I've found in my previous jobs in Atlanta, Mississippi and Dallas. I don't even know if it works or not, so I thought I'd try it out /spanspan style="text-decoration: none;"here /spanspan style="text-decoration: none;"with no master in sight/spanspan style="text-decoration: none;"." replied Phoenix as she turned on a black dial on the bottom right hand corner of the radio. There was a lot of static ("A good sign" Krystal /spanspan style="text-decoration: none;"and Phoenix/spanspan style="text-decoration: none;" thought to /spanspan style="text-decoration: none;"them/spanspan style="text-decoration: none;"sel/spanspan style="text-decoration: none;"ves/spanspan style="text-decoration: none;") and after Phoenix tweaked the white dial on the top right hand corner, a station seemed to be reached /spanspan style="text-decoration: none;"at 92.3 mhz/spanspan style="text-decoration: none;". Whatever music it was, it had already finished, as the first complete words heard were: "We'll be right back after these messages"/span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal;" align="LEFT"span style="text-decoration: none;""Guard the radio, I'm gonna go get some crawfish to cook for all of us for tomorrow/spanspan style="text-decoration: none;"'s picnic/spanspan style="text-decoration: none;"" said Phoenix. Krystal nodded reassuringly, satisfying Phoenix to take her leave. Krystal however was more focused on the commercials, the first /spanspan style="text-decoration: none;"one that/spanspan style="text-decoration: none;" she had heard without risk of lashes in the woodshed. Sometimes, "subliminal" advertising would be available to the slaves, and Krystal knew to focus on slightly more emphasized /spanspan style="text-decoration: none;"words. After 2 or 3 commercials, she found what she was looking for: /spanspan style="text-decoration: none;""The", "Critter", "Is", "Ready", "To", "Crawl", "North" /spanspan style="text-decoration: none;"were emphasized more than the other words (which Krystal determined was to sell some kind of bug spray). Phoenix returned about 20 minutes later, complete with a net containing what Krystal assumed was at least 10 pounds of crawfish./span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""That was quick. But where did you get the net?" asked Krystal./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""Swiped it from the shed before I started work today" replied Phoenix, hiding the fact that Kate got close to finding the net and the radio via her kiss./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""How did you learn to catch crawfish?" asked Krystal./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""This isn't my first job in Louisiana. I love Bayous and Cajun food. Then again, there may not be many true Caucker Cajuns left in this world." said Phoenix, sadly./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""Did you know Aaron was part Cajun on his dad's side?" asked Krystal./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal;" align="LEFT"span style="text-decoration: none;""1/16/spansupspan style="text-decoration: none;"th/span/supspan style="text-decoration: none;". Did you find what you were looking for?" asked Phoenix./span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""Yeah. We can escape tomorrow night."/p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT"Meanwhile in the kitchen, sat Kate on a black wooden stool. She was not in her uniform, but that didn't make Chevi any less nervous./p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""You're afraid that my position as head slave makes me think I'm better than you or any other slave, don't you?" asked Kate, making sure to look Chevi directly in the eye a she asked her that, in order to show her respect./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""It's not that. You know the anxiety a slave gets after being whipped that anything they do will get them whipped again?" asked Chevi./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""All too well, actually. It takes at least a week to even start recovering from that every time that it happens. Some never do. Besides, I don't think what we're doing warrants lashes and even if it did, as head slave, I would be taking the brunt of the punishment anyways."/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""And what exactly are we doing?" asked Chevi, staring at a bunch of mixing bowls of various sizes and colours. Chevi knew that one of them had sugar in it, but didn't recognize any of the others./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""We're making marshmallows." replied Kate./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""I...have no idea what Marshmallows are." said Chevi softly, hanging her head low, feeling slightly embarrassed./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""They are a dessert or snack food, commonly served outside near a large fire. Many people actually prefer these toasted by fire." replied Kate./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""And what am I doing here? Other than learning how to cook, of course" asked Chevi, completely confused./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""To serve as the lookout, in case I'm wrong about the master's temper." said Kate tactlessly./p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT"Chevi gulped nervously, fearing that she was being set up to get whipped. A practice that was disturbingly common between slaves across the entire United States./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""Don't worry. As I said, I would get the brunt of the punishment as I'm the head slave if we get caught. I actually remember the former head slave getting caught trying to teach me this. I only got a good talking to, the head slave took 20 lashes and was put on probation for a year. It didn't matter though, as he was gone not even 6 months later. He was tall and large built, but either so small-minded that he didn't understand the rules of being a slave, or just cared so little that no whipping would ever straighten him out. His name was Billy, though the master insisted on calling him Willem. I don't even know what happened to him. Usually, when a slave leaves a plantation, you eventually hear if they escaped or got put back on the auction block. Based on me not hearing anything, I presuming he was killed for being too strong willed. 'An uppity caucker', I believe is the term that masters use."/p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""Shhhh, I think that the master is awake" whispered Chevi. Before Kate could respond, Chevi was out of the kitchen, staring intently on the staircase leading to the second floor. The steps were a deeply stained brown oak, as was the banister. Sure enough, the master was awake and headed downstairs towards Chevi./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""Something wrong, master?" asked Chevi. She was terrified, as she would probably have to be sitting on top of Kate's shoulders to match the master's height. And short of maybe David Ross, no 2 or even 3 slaves could match his strength./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""I can't sleep again. I think that I'll be taking a late night stroll across the property, maybe hit up a neighbour's house, unwind a bit. What's that smell?"/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT"Chevi had to think quickly, "It's my turn in the rotation to reheat the scraps for the slaves to eat tomorrow. The sweet smell is me focusing on dessert first. Head Slave Kate is actually supervising me, as I'm your youngest. Kate, say 'Hello, Master' to show the master that I'm telling the truth"/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""Hello master" shouted Kate, silently commending Chevi's cover story, by technically telling him the truth./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""Well, that's quite alright. As long as she's not teaching you anything, we all have to stick to the order of the house, even me."/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""No master, just basic reheating, I promise." said Chevi, trying her best to look at him, despite her fear of him./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""Very well, just make sure to clean up when you're finished. And yes, you are my youngest, aren't you?" said the master while grinning, moving to touch Chevi before she quickly replied "I better get back, Master. I don't wish to burn down the plantation by accident. Enjoy your late night stroll". The master nodded, then grabbed a nearby white straw hat, and opened the door to leave. Chevi immediately ditched her fake smile, walked back into the kitchen, and started fighting the urge to cry./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""Wow, at least he waited until I was 18. And Phoenix got here in her late 20's. No idea about Krystal or Holly." whispered Kate, making sure to keep her distance from Chevi./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""It's OK, Miss Kate. You can hug me, just this once" said Chevi as the first tear ran down her face. The rest came as soon as Kate's arms wrapped around her./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""Oh Miss Kate, I think that he wants to take me...before I'm of age. And I don't even know If God assigned me correctly as a girl, as I do many things like a boy." she said in between sobs./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""We know, and everything will work out, I promise." said Kate, unsure if she was telling the truth./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""What's that word...the one I always have trouble reading when I'm with Mister Nicholas?" asked Chevi./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""...Rapist. And that word would apply to our master, if our society saw us white people as the human beings that we are." said Kate softly. Chevi remained in Kate's arms./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""Do you...know when America's constitution was expunged?" asked Chevi, desperate to talk about something else./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""I have no idea as to the exact date it was expunged, no one in our generation does. It was at some point after the civil war, but before 1877. Reconstruction in the south was going too slow for the African American population, and I actually sympathize with them on that. A few legal uprisings and marches turned into mass riots and a few years later, the black population overthrew Washington and the ones that had already been living in Union states helped the others expunge the government and nearly all of its' documents. The new documents that were drafted made us, the Jews, the Asians, every non-Negro human a slave." ranted Kate./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""And nearly a century and a half later, we're still paying for our ancestors crimes. I can forgive a lot of what goes on here, but not the...rapists" said Chevi slowly./p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""OK, we're almost there." whispered Holly./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""My climbing skills are better than yours, so I'll give you a boost over the fence. Then I'll climb over afterwards." answered Justin as they reached an 8 foot tall cedar fence belonging to a property about half a mile away from their "home". Justin then clasped his hands together inward, then lowered them for it to be easier for Holly to put her right foot in them. Justin was grateful that the bread bags and twine tied around their feet did not pick up any glass where the bottom of Holly's feet were (as that could shred Justin's hands so badly that he would never be able to wrestle alligators again, and that would likely set off the master enough to kill him even without the charge of trespassing on another master's property. At best, he would be put back on the auction block, separated from Krystal, the love of his life). Holly was somewhat easier to lift up than Justin had estimated, which he attributed to Holly likely receiving less food per day than he did (which briefly lead him to a series of questions as to why this was the case, but he blocked it out to focus on the task at hand). Justin then climbed over the fence himself with a standing jump, reaching the top of the fence with his hands, then putting his feet at a steep enough of an angle to be flush with the wood of the fence, then he climbed the fence and hopped over it with ease, even landing perfectly./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""Did you land OK?" asked Justin. Holly nodded and they continued walking Northwest. Justin was actually struggling not to stop in his tracks, as he saw one of the few tranquil sights that he had ever seen in his life that wasn't Krystal: A water gardens. It was literally a small waterfall, artificially constructed to serve as a centrepiece for the rest of the garden./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""I wonder how many slaves were needed to build this" mumbled Justin./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""35 slaves, round the clock for about 6 months." replied Holly. Justin actually stopped at that, as opposed to the water garden itself./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""Oh, I heard our master talk about it to the master of this place a few months ago over a game of Chess that they had in the parlour." whispered Holly./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""Fair enough. Do you remember what to get for tomorrow morning?" asked Justin./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""Indeed I do: 6 and a half to 7 pounds of Tea leaves. Thank God we have more sugar on our plantation than we know what to do with. How many Peaches do you think you can swipe without anyone noticing?" asked Holly./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""8 minimum, but I hope to find 12 good ones" answered Justin with a smile./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""Shit, our master is on the property too." whispered Holly. Both of them took cover by a nearby Raspberry bush, where the thorns pricking them almost blew their cover by the pain that they caused./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""Guess he went for a late night stroll or something. Why can't we be one of the higher-end plantation where we're trusted with walkie-talkies? Asked Justin (almost to himself)./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""Well, they're friends. And our master rarely stays anywhere overnight save for trips to see his own family in downtown New Orleans and Baton Rouge, so he shouldn't be very long." stated Holly./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""I'm gonna see if I can hear what he's saying" whispered Justin. Holly nodded, taking that as her cue to exercise her "right to remain silent". A right that the white people of this world last had before the 20supth/sup century started./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT"emThank you Mr. Collins for using your...influence at your radio station to coerce one of your slaves into giving a decoy subliminal message for all of the slaves of the town to hear. We'll execute the ones who try to escape tomorrow night and hit the auctions tomorrow to get replacements. There's too many slaves for the entire South Central United States, we need to purge the more rebellious ones out of the system, as we've always done./em/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT"Justin and Holly then both stared in complete disbelief as their master handed "Mr. Collins" (who was most assuredly not Aaron or even a relative of Aaron) an envelope (presumably filled with money). After an exchange of handshakes and tips of their respective straw hats, they parted company and Mr. Collins went inside his home, with neither of them having seen Justin or Holly. Justin and Holly then exhaled and inhaled rapidly, even though neither of them had held their breath./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""span style="font-style: normal;"Jesus Christ, we're being set up to get murdered. Not just our plantation either, I'm talking every plantation in 6 different states. Thousands of us could be killed in the next week" said /spanspan style="font-style: normal;"Holly/spanspan style="font-style: normal;" in what could best be described as a whispered outrage./span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""More like a million or 2" was all that Justin could say as a reply. Given how shocked that both of them were, Holly was surprised that Justin had responded at all./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="CENTER"*/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="CENTER" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT"span style="font-style: normal;"I/spanspan style="font-style: normal;"t was very dangerous for /spanspan style="font-style: normal;"Nicholas/spanspan style="font-style: normal;" to be waiting at a Bayou by h/spanspan style="font-style: normal;"im/spanspan style="font-style: normal;"self, for non-human and human reasons. Any of the putrid life that surrounded h/spanspan style="font-style: normal;"im/spanspan style="font-style: normal;" could kill h/spanspan style="font-style: normal;"im/spanspan style="font-style: normal;" without a moment's thought. Snakes, Alligators, the various insects (namely Mosquitoes, /spanspan style="font-style: normal;"as /spanspan style="font-style: normal;"no one cared if a slave died of Malaria), even the water itself could /spanspan style="font-style: normal;"kill him/spanspan style="font-style: normal;", as it wasn't clean. The human danger came from anyone who wanted to take h/spanspan style="font-style: normal;"im/spanspan style="font-style: normal;" (regardless of race, /spanspan style="font-style: normal;"or even sexual preference for that matter/spanspan style="font-style: normal;") or just beat and murder h/spanspan style="font-style: normal;"im/spanspan style="font-style: normal;". /span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT"It was much to his relief when David Ross was seen by him in the distance. He was on the boat that Nicholas and Chevi had used earlier in the day, but was using a long stick as a makeshift punt. The motor of the boat would've surely arisen unwanted attention from one of the many plantation owners. He even made sure to park the boat in the mud in order to not make any noise. Nicholas had been confused as to why David Ross had brought him to the bayou, only to be told to stay put at the edge of it and not brought along to...wherever David was going./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""Sorry that took so long" whispered David./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""Where the hell have you been?" asked Nicholas, before adding "I've taken at least 30 mosquito bites since you left. If even ONE of them is carrying any disease."/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""I'm sorry for the inconvenience, I do owe you an explanation. I had a hunch that the radio message that Krystal overheard was a fake. I met up with people from some of the other plantations a few miles from here, and they confirm that it was a fake made by plantation owners with the help of a coerced announcer." said David Ross, with guilt in his voice./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""OK, how do they know it was a fake?" asked Nicholas, sounding completely dismissive./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""Tomorrow morning, it's going to be announced that the announcer died in a tragic accident walking home. Her sister is actually a slave working a couple of plantations over to the right of ours and was going to meet her at the station as a surprise. She saw her get shot 6 times in the head for 'doing her job', then overheard the station manager say 'weigh the bitch, then throw her in the gulf'. We still don't know how her sister got back here without getting herself killed too." said David Ross./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""So, no one escapes tomorrow night, no one else gets hurt?" asked Nicholas./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""All that does is buy us a few weeks at most. I've seen something like this coming for a while, and while I know I can't save everyone, my backup plan could save all of us at our plantation." said David Ross as he began drawing something in the air with his right index finger./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""And how exactly do you propose to even save the 8 of us?" asked Nicholas, even more dismissive than he was a minute ago./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT"David cleared his throat, knowing that if this was ever written, it would probably be the longest piece of uninterrupted dialogue in the history of the Aaronverse (that was not spoken by Aaron-prime himself): "I rode here on temptation's wings as a lifer to the cause. I'm merely one of many pillars of eternity to rehab the white slaves. We do hail the leaf, but to work, we exist underneath everything. We're the eyes of the south, to avoid a fate worse than jail, losing all to where they would stone the crow. We even pray for the locust, to not have a swan song. Bury me in smoke if I'm caught, during a lysergik funeral procession. There's something on my side, the man that follows hell. Look for the stained glass cross to find ghosts along the Mississippi. Learn from this mistake, don't be beautifully depressed. Where I'm going, may need a doob interlude. New Orleans is a dying whore, as we are the seed that leaves. Lies, I don't know what they say, but Flambeaux's jamming with St. Aug. And when you're dog tired, you'll be landing on the mountains of Meggido. Three suns and one star is the path, and when you nod, I scream. On march the saints or never try. Mourn those who don't make it, they'll go beneath the tides. His majesty the desert, may make you climb a pillamyd and in the thrall of it all, we ask nothing in return (walk away). Levitation is not needed to overcome the witchtripper, but if we encounter open coffins, this curse is a lie. This work is timeless, regardless of a misfortune teller. If we stop at a steeple, begin by saying 'we knew him well'. And when you finally reach the hogshead/dogshead, conjure the sufferer's years while celebrating bacchanalia."/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT"Nicholas struggled to even begin to process all of that, but noticed that certain words were emphasized. Finally, he whispered in proclamation:/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""The rumours are true. There is an underground railroad station here in Louisiana, I can go back to Canada."/p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal;" align="LEFT"span style="text-decoration: underline;"12 Hours Earlier/span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT"Sunday was a day of rest for all races here, enslaved and master alike. The Master had told everyone to basically follow the rules he had already set out in their day to day life and not to leave the property (which was just as well, they couldn't afford to do anything anyway on their "wages"), otherwise, the day was theirs to enjoy as they saw fit. As was typical of the Black Plantation, the 8 slaves agreed to a picnic on the plantation's end of property line near the bayou./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""How come we call our employer's plantation the Black plantation?" asked Chevi./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""Basically, it's our only way of mocking our way of life that doesn't see us punished with many, many, lashes." answered David Ross./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""And why does no one know the name of the bayou that serves as the end of our property line?" asked Holly./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""Some of us can't read a map, others choose not to due to our hatred of our surroundings." answered Justin./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""Why isn't Aaron intervening on this world? And I mean local Aaron, not the original." asked Kate./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""I'm assuming he's dead or so deep in hiding that any action from him will get us all killed" replied Krystal./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal;" align="LEFT"span style="text-decoration: none;""And why are we speaking as though we're more functional in society /spanspan style="text-decoration: none;"than we are?" asked Nicholas./span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""We all like to read as a form of rebellion and it comes out in our speech." replied Phoenix./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT"Everyone laughed. And between the scraps from previous meals and what was "procured illegally", it was feast fitting for a king to them. And they had each other, which was most important to them./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT"For Justin however, something was sticking in his craw beyond his immediate surroundings./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal;" align="LEFT"span style="text-decoration: none;""It doesn't seem to matter which Aaronworld we're in: Every version of the south has a social order that's too slow to evolve with basic human rights. A black woman /spanspan style="text-decoration: none;"has more rights than a white man. Even an outsider of a different race /spanspan style="text-decoration: none;"(that isn't a caucker)/spanspan style="text-decoration: none;" entirely can get by without much more than gossip behind their backs if they have the money or the crops to back it up. It is beyond unfair for there to be any social order in any society other than that the civil rights of each individual be equal. In most other worlds, it's the African-American population, as our writer Aaron /spanspan style="text-decoration: none;"tells us that started civil rights movements over half a century ago. Now, it's our time to begin them on this world."/span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT"The other 7 nodded in agreement. Then came Krystal's turn./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal;" align="LEFT"span style="text-decoration: none;""None of us have ever had pleasure of even seeing Aaron Collins in person, except for that strange trip to Philadelphia that we're not supposed to talk about. /spanspan style="text-decoration: none;"But his writings that have gotten to us through our channels have given us more than literacy, they have given us hope. We've been among the lucky ones to not have been punished for being characters in his stories...save for Nicholas, David and Chevi...and there was a while where Phoenix wasn't in any of them for some reason."/span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""I can't figure out why. My best guess is that I probably pissed Aaron off on some other world regarding my tactless way of dealing with the deaths of people" replied Phoenix, to the laughter of the whole group./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""In all seriousness, guys. Now that Canada has a new government, it's time to go home. But for those who wish to stay and fix the problem, Mr. Brodie..."/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;"Nicholas then took out several pieces of paper, hidden in his rags. That alone shocked the other 7, as paper was near impossible to get if you were a slave:/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;""I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the first demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation. Nearly 8 score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity. But one generation later, the roles reversed, and remain so to this day. One hundred and thirty years or so later, the life of the Caucasian is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred and thirty or so years later, the Caucasian lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred and thirty or so years later, the Caucasian is still languishing in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. So we have come here today to dramatize a shameful condition./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"In a sense we have come together today to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens without colour are concerned. Instead of honouring this sacred obligation, America has given the Caucasian people a bad check, a check which has come back marked 'insufficient funds'. But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. So we have come to cash this check — a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice. We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quick sands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment. This sweltering summer of the Caucasian's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. 2018 is not an end, but a beginning. Those who hope that the Caucasian needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. There will be neither rest nor tranquillity in America until the Caucasian is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"But there is something that I must say to my people who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice. In the process of gaining our rightful place we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force. The marvellous new militancy which has engulfed the Caucasian community must not lead us to a distrust of all black people, for many of our black brothers and sisters, as evidenced by their presence along the roads back to Canada which all of us I think, will take, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. They have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom. We cannot walk alone./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"As we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead. We cannot turn back. There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, "When will you be satisfied?" We can never be satisfied as long as the Caucasian is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. We can never be satisfied, as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as the Caucasian's basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their selfhood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating "For Blacks Only". We cannot be satisfied as long as a Caucasian in Mississippi cannot vote and a Caucasian in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream. I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. Some of you have come from areas where your quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"Go back to Ontario, go back to Quebec, go back to British Columbia, go back to Alberta, go back to Saskatchewan, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed. Let us not wallow in the valley of despair./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: 'We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.'/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"I have a dream that my our little children (who we don't even have access to) will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the colour of their skin but by the content of their character./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"I have a dream today./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"I have a dream that one day, down in Louisiana, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification; one day right here in Louisiana, little white boys and white girls will be able to join hands with little black boys and black girls as sisters and brothers./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"I have a dream today./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together. This is our hope. This is the faith that we go back to Canada with. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"This will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with a new meaning, 'My country, 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim's pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring.'/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"And if America is to be a great nation after we go back to Canada this must become true. So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania!/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"Let freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado!/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California!/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"But not only that; let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia!/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee!/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring. And when this happens, when we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Caucasian spiritual, 'Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!'"/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"There were several moments of unpaused silence amongst the 8 of them. No one had ever heard a slave speak so eloquently in history./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;""Well, there goes my record for longest uninterrupted dialogue in Aaronverse history not spoken by Aaron himself" said David Ross. The laughter resumed, along with hand holding./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;" align="CENTER"*/p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT"The sun was beginning to set on this Sunday, both in the literal and metaphorical sense. Phoenix stood at her section of the slave's cabin, which was not even big enough for a proper bed. It barely contained what few belongings she was able to hold onto from being a vagabond of white slavery. Namely, 3 changes of rags, what passed for underwear and a few keepsakes proving that she had had children along the way./p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""I spent so long out of the Aaronverse. I don't even think I could talk to the man directly anymore, even if he was up for talking to me. I just want to know, are my 4 kids safe on this world? They must be so scattered across the U.S. now. I don't even know how I survived 4 different childbirths, as most black doctors won't take white patients"/p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT"A nearby piece of wood began lifting itself up and down vertically. If it were a human head, it would be nodding at Phoenix./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""Are they already in Canada?" asked Phoenix. The wood nodded again./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""I guess the less I travel with, the faster I can get home then."/p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT"The wood briefly nodded one more time, in agreement with Phoenix, who was already imagining what to leave behind./p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT"Holly was actually in the main house, sitting in a closet with only the slightest crack of it open. She was racing against the fading sunlight, using it as a light source so as not to attract unwanted attention. She had swiped a map of North America from the master's night stand, and was staring at her home state of Indiana. She came to a sad, even horrific realization:/p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""emUnless Indiana secedes from the union and joins Canada, which wouldn't work unless Michigan joined Canada too, I could easily get re-captured and sent back south."/em/p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT"She thought all of this to herself as a single tear ran across Holly's left cheek./p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""emI'm never going to see my home state again unless I go through it to go to Canada anyway. And it would be too tempting for me to just stop and stay in Indiana. I should just start over again in Canada somewhere, but where? It's gotta be somewhere not obvious. I don't think they'd look for an Indiana farm girl in, Montreal, Quebec. It would even be worth me learning French just to hide in plain sight."/em/p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT"David was already packed and was on the opposite end of the slave's cabin from where Phoenix was half-packing/half-shedding her past. David was using various parts of the cabin to give himself a workout, and to basically watch Phoenix's back...and if they came in to pack, he'd stand guard over any of his soon to be ex-fellow slaves as well. He tried his best not to stare at her, as he tried not to stare at anyone on the plantation (5 lashes each time, and he didn't want to know how many more he'd get if he were attracted to other men...which he wasn't, but didn't care if others were)./p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""Please tell me that I don't have to run down my body mods like I did with Kate yesterday." said Phoenix from nearly 40 feet away./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""No Miss Christa" said David Ross immediately, offering her a reassuring smile. "That will not be necessary"/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""If time were not of the essence..." began Phoenix./p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT"Then David shushed her, as he heard screaming coming from the main house./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""Masters bedroom...believe me, that's where it's coming from." said Phoenix, recalling all of her trauma that took place in that room./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""This has to stop, once and for all. Civil liberties are violated every time anyone rapes anyone else. Master or slave." he declared as he ran out of the slave's cabin./p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""I'm not even of age, you fucking bastard" screamed Chevi, beginning to think that no one was coming to help her. Maybe she had no friends here after all./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""You have a demon inside you, child caucker. One that tells you to move with the boys...even though you're a girl" said the master as he grinned maniacally, before adding "I always love the feeling of a girl's hymen on my..."/p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT"David Ross had made it in time, and jumped onto his large master, making sure to wrap his right bicep around the back of the master's large head, and his forearm around the master's throat./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""You like that motherfucker?" asked David. "It's called a guillotine choke hold. I learned it off a guy in Brazil, perfect for sick fucks like you."/p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT"By now, all of the other slaves were at the entrance to the bedroom, stunned that one slave could subdue their master. Well, 2 slaves, as Chevi was able to grab an Ivory handled letter opener that was resting on a nearby nightstand and stab him through his scrotum, piercing his exposed, erect penis./p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""If I were feeling kind, I'd pierce deeper into your digestive systems...killing you almost instantly" she said coldly, then Chevi smiled wickedly (having known this day was coming for some time now), merely adding "But I'm happier to let you just bleed the fuck out."/p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT"She then followed through on her statement, pulling the letter opener out of him. No one was sure how long he remained conscious, but there was too much genital trauma for him to be capable of screaming anyway./p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""Even if he survives that..." began Nicholas./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""We're all facing lethal injection if we're ever caught and connected to this" finished Kate./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""I consider that a kindness, compared to him. I'm just glad he never saw interest in me the way he saw interest in some of you" whispered Krystal as every other girl nodded, basically confirming that he "took" Holly too at some point./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""Fuck it, we burn the whole fucking plantation to the ground" announced Justin./p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT"Everyone nodded. Chevi had already grabbed a can of gasoline, exclaiming "He kept it in the pantry up here" while grinning./p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal;" align="LEFT"span style="text-decoration: underline;"Epilogue: Pride go.../span/p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""...Hello to the future" whispered Chevi./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""Jesus, you really would be a professional wrestler on almost any other world" declared Krystal, David Ross meekly nodded./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""I think we should all take different routes to Canada. As it would minimize the chances of capture." suggested Justin./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal;" align="LEFT"span style="text-decoration: none;""I agree. They'll be looking for us no matter what /spanspan style="text-decoration: none;"now. Especially when the cops don't find any bodies except for our former employer." added Kate. The rest nodded in agreement./span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""I guess the only question left is..." started Holly./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""...which route is everyone taking?" finished Phoenix./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""And also..." started David Ross./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""What parts of Canada are we going to?" Nicholas finished./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""Indeed. It's actually a bit bigger than the U.S." added Chevi./p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal;" align="LEFT"span style="text-decoration: none;""/spanspan style="text-decoration: none;"I have nothing to go with this but instinct, but I keep seeing images of Saskatchewan. I think you know who is telling me my kids are all up there already waiting for me /spanspan style="text-decoration: none;"to pick them up/spanspan style="text-decoration: none;". If no one else minds, I'm gonna steal the master's boat and just sail straight up the Mississippi river until I reach Minnesota. I'll then ditch the boat and head straight north for the Manitoba border. Then west to Saskatoon." said Phoenix, making sure to draw it out for everyone in the air with her left index finger./span/p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal;" align="LEFT"span style="text-decoration: none;""Not like our old boss will miss his boat. /spanspan style="text-decoration: none;"I'll be heading Northeast towards Norfolk, Virginia. From there, I'll stow away on a ship to Boston, then switch ships for one going along the St. Lawrence river into Ontario. A bit of a long way around, so I hope to find a good shepherd or 2." /spanspan style="text-decoration: none;"said David Ross, who then immediately put his hands over his mouth, but it was too late, his secret was exposed to them now./span/p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""Shepherd? I don't understand what you mean." said Chevi./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""Me neither." added Holly./p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT"It had just occurred to nearly everyone that Chevi and Holly were going to have the most difficult time getting to Canada, as they were actually born in America. Nicholas was the first to stare at David Ross, having heard his coded rant. Everyone else followed suit. David Ross decided to finally come clean./p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal;" align="LEFT"span style="text-decoration: none;""OK everyone, you got me. Shepherds are people who help slaves find the railroad stops themselves. All of us are going to need at least one to minimize the risk of re-capture, even Phoenix. They're also called agents. We're all 'passengers' or 'cargo' now, no exceptions. 'Conductors' are the people who tell you how to travel from stop to stop. Us cauckers would normally get a ticket of some kind /spanspan style="text-decoration: none;"before we get started /spanspan style="text-decoration: none;"but as long as we tell the shepherds that our ticket came from burning this place down, we'll be /spanspan style="text-decoration: none;"just /spanspan style="text-decoration: none;"fine."/span/p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT"The second floor then finally collapsed onto the first floor. Dave continued:/p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""Hiding places are also called 'stations', obviously. 'Station masters' are people of all races who hide slaves in their homes. They'll provide us with food, shelter, tools, and maybe money if we have some good 'stockbrokers'. 'Stockbrokers' are the railroad's financial benefactors. Nearly everyone only knows their part of the route, to minimize risk of infiltration from slave owners or their bounty hunters. But people along the railroad come from all walks of life. Namely Black abolitionists, former slaves who just stayed in the Northern United States, and especially Native Americans. We travel by night, hide and sleep by day."/p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""Are there stops along the Mississippi river? I just realized that I may need to take advantage of those meals." stated Phoenix, looking like she needed to kick herself for not realizing her need for essentials sooner. David Ross nodded, as did everyone else for the information they got. Krystal's eyes then widened, then she turned to Justin./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""I don't want to split up with you, even though it lowers the risk. You are for all intents and purposes, my husband. Surely people do go through the railroad in pairs, right David?"/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""Of course. Any group measuring 1-4 people is standard as I've been lead to understand. Anything more than that is almost unheard of. But we have to be pragmatic, the odds of all 8 of us getting to Canada are slim, no matter which plan we go with. All 8 of us taking different routes maximizes the chances of at least half of us getting into the country without being re-captured, re-sold back into the slave trade, jailed, or killed." said David, bordering on frustrated./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""Then allow me to be equally pragmatic, Mr. Ross...there's 9 of us travelling to Canada." stated Krystal without any tact whatsoever. Justin smiled and hugged Krystal. David Ross' frustration subsided, now he understood completely, and respected their love that he was previously oblivious to./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""Take the boat guys, I'll go by land through Arkansas, then Missouri, then Iowa, then Minnesota, then go as I already said. I think that I'll technically be using the railroad the least, unless there are more stops than I've heard rumour of. David, did you arrange to get here so that you could rescue us?" asked Phoenix./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""I think it was arranged for me. It may be possible that Aaron works as on the railroad in some form, but I think that might entail more contact with humans than he wants. Still, having me here knowing more about the railroad than anyone else is quite convenient, to say the least." replied David./p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""I'll go through Mississippi (as both of my kids are there, thank you Aaron-Prime for at least telling me that in my mind just now), but by land and not by water, so Justin and Krystal probably won't see me. I'll go through Tennessee via Memphis. Maybe I'll see the Elvis Presley slave monument where he was beaten to death by a group of black police officers for playing their music called Rock n' roll. Then onto Kentucky, then Ohio, then I'll swim Lake Ontario the rest of the way. I'm just glad that this isn't one of the Aaronworlds where Lake Ontario is so polluted where the water would kill me just for swimming in it. It can't be any worse than our Bayou. If I don't feel that my legs are strong enough, I can always stow on a ship for an hour or 2 to get across." said Kate./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""Ohio is one of the bigger hubs of the network, we have nearly 100 stations there. I only know as much about the railroad as I do because I've paid attention over the last decade or so." remarked David./p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""I'll ignore my temptation to go through my home state of Indiana and instead head to Savannah, Georgia. From there, I'll go through the Carolinas, Virginia, then Northeast through all of the New England region until I reach Boston (but probably long after Mr. Ross gets there, so he won't see me). Then I'll change gears and head Northwest to Montreal. Will New England have enough stops to keep me from thinking about how I'll never see home again?" asked Holly./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""I have no idea, but the anti-caucker ridicule that even exists in New England should be enough motivation to get you out of there pretty quick." replied Dave, in a way that implied that he spoke from personal experience. "No matter which route I take, I'll likely be sent back down to America somewhere to get a new group of slaves ready to ride the railroad in light of me handling all of you guys. With that said, I'll just ignore requests for a while so that I can build my strength back up and relax a bit in Canada before I go back down. Chevi, your turn."/p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT"Chevi took a deep breath before listing: "Head for Charleston, South Carolina. Take a boat to Providence, Rhode Island. From there, I'll go due North until I reach Quebec, then Southwest until I hit Toronto. The Rhode Island stop alone should throw our pursuers off."/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""Yeah. Too small to be a target of slave hunters, so you could hide there for days with no one really noticing." said David Ross with a thoughtful nod./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""So...all of us are going to arrive in Canada at different times, some by a considerable distance. I'll just head to Chicago, then stowaway on a boat across Lake Michigan until I hit North Ontario. Then I'll head south until I hit Toronto." said Nicholas after having intentionally remained quiet for a while./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""Is there a landmark in Toronto we could all meet at?" asked Chevi./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""The Royal York Hotel that was in 'Suspects' exists here on this world. Kind of ironic as that was the first major piece of underground literature of his that I came across in my travels" replied David Ross./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""I would actually relocate my kids and I to Toronto to see that hotel in person" declared Phoenix./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""And I can get to Toronto from Montreal in a day or 2 every now and then." added Holly/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""So it's decided. When each of you arrive in Canada, go to the Royal York every day (or in Holly's case, once every 90 days) until all 8 of us arrive safely, even if you hear that 1 or more of us got recaptured or killed" stated Justin./p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT"And with a group hug sealing the pact (making sure not to inflict trauma on Krystal's not yet swollen pregnant stomach), everyone left as the last of the plantation became embers in a Southern Gothic night sky, almost as bright as the local fireflies./p