Slavery, Past and Present - 50 Word Story Contest

"Slavery is what slavery's always been: About one person controlling another person using violence and then exploiting them economically, paying them nothing. That's what slavery's about."
- Kevin Bales -

Slavery is a horrible aberration of justice.

There was a time in our country when slavery was explicitly sanctioned. Viewed in the light of human history, it was not that long ago.

In our modern day, slavery still thrives in the guise of "paying your fair share." Should you decline to acquiesce to what the government laughably calls "voluntary compliance," you are herded to court at gunpoint and ultimately thrown in a cage.

But I digress...

The 50 Word Short Story Contest this week calls for a theme of "clean."

I love being pointed in a very general direction, and then being able to choose within those constraints...

Bondage - Image courtesy of Public Domain Pictures

Clean Getaway

by Duncan Cary Palmer

"Thank you, Abigail. You may retire."

Abigail slipped into the muggy Charleston night, but turned away from the dorm.

Retrieving a concealed bundle, she spoke to the waiting shadowy figure.

"I'm ready, Mr. Still."

"Call me William."

"My true name is Aba."

Mounting Still's carriage, they headed for the station.

The Plantation - Image courtesy of Dirk Spijkers

Story background:

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The search and struggle for liberty is one of the themes of my life. This week's prompt, "clean," almost immediately suggested a clean getaway. Throughout human history, those who treasure freedom have had to seize it, because the sociopathic Powers That Be will not grant liberty willingly.

And so I did some research, beginning by seeking the name of a real slave from American history, a living, breathing person that I might be able to identify with. I found Abigail, "owned" by Colonel H.K. Hugan. Abigail reportedly arrived early in 1820, at the age of 34, in Charleston, South Carolina, hotbed of the American slave trade.

Wondering what Abigail's original African name may have been, I did some further research. I discovered that a female slave of matching age by the name of Aba had been shipped to Freetown, Sierra Leone, and liberated by a court there. Speculating wildly, I further supposed that Aba may have been recaptured by traders and delivered to Charleston some years later.

I imagined poor Aba (anglicized by Hugan... "I shall call you Abigail") hearing through the grapevine of the underground railroad. After months of planning and cautiously making the right contacts, she gathers a few of her most valuable earthly possessions into a bundle, and is finally ready.

Abigail leaves Colonel Hugan's dining room after dinner one evening. Rather than follow her usual routine of heading for the dorm, Aba seizes her freedom with the help of Mr. William Still, a conductor on the underground railroad. Still spirits her away from the plantation in his carriage, to seek safe refuge elsewhere.

_FIN

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