It started one average day, but it is a day I will never forget. When I was a pup, I was a rail splitter, prying the bark off the logs and then splitting the log in half. The logs would then be shipped off to the rail road to be used as fuel for their fires. Coal was hard to come by at that time, so they used wood instead as a substitute.

Anyway, while I was doing my job, a fire broke out in the lumber mill. We did all we could, I even helped by grabbing a bucket of my own. Good thing the mill was right next to a small river, eh? I could tell though, there was no way the mill would be up and running again.

After the fire was finally put out, the mill owner a female cockapoo who me and my family worked for, accused a mix breed of starting the fire. His name was Rocky, she whipped Rocky hard. I was so mad to see this, because he wasn't a slave. But he was being treated like one. Sure, mix breeds in the south were slaves, along with African-American humans, but here in the north slavery was almost considered illegal!

I was about to interfere when my father stopped me...

"It's not our place son," he said grabbing Marshall by the fore-leg.

"But Dad...!" Marshall shouted trying to brake louse. His father cut him off mid sentence.

"Marshall, come on," he said grinding his teeth while trying to hold on to his son. He failed, and Marshall charged hatchet in paw.

One thing you must know about me by now is that I'm clumsy. However clumsy I am now, I was 5 times more clumsy at least when I was young. What happened next? Well...

Marshall charged and unleashed a battle cry, for that brief second he felt fearless, but then the owner turned and one look terrified the young dalmatian to the point that it caused him to trip and fall. He went rolling, and stopped right next to Rocky. The owner kept waving the whip over her, and she brought it down extra hard on Rocky, not caring that Marshall was right next to him.

Rocky screamed with pain and agony as the end of the whip made contact with his body one more time. Marshall's father grabbed the whip and forced it out of her paw.

"I'm putting this slave in it's place!" She exclaimed staring at the older dalmatian.

"He's not a slave and you know it," the father said firmly as Marshall's mother began checking Rocky over.

"Who's not to say he's just pretending to be free?"

"Until every single creature is free, we are all slaves," Marshall's mother said staring into the eyes of the cockapoo that were hidden behind a pair of sunglasses.

The cockapoo smiled, and chuckled before saying, "Is that so? (chuckle) Well in that case, I would like you to pay me back that debt you and your family have been building up, with interest..."

A/N: SNOW DAY! Thought I would get out another chapter today so here it is!