Ciaran
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Julina's Enslavement
It was noon. As always, the family was cleaning up after family dinner. It wasn't much; soup, bread, freshly squeezed milk, and a single drumstick for each of them. None of it was particularly tasteful, in fact most of it was bland. However, they enjoyed spending time together, and that made any meal wonderful.
They were conversing happily, almost finished when a knock at the front door resounded through the small wooden house. The father excused himself and answered.
"Edward Farmer?" the man at the door asked in a gruff voice. The father recognized him as one of the goons that collected loan payments for his creditor across the ocean in England.
"Yes," Edward confirmed. "What's the problem? We made our payment for this month just like always."
"The boss changed his mind," the man answered off-handedly. "He wants the rest of the debt paid off now."
The mother and daughter looked in on the conversation from the edge of the kitchen, just beyond the corner. The mother held her daughter tight to her, arms around her front. The daughter appeared confused.
"You know very well our business and all of our property aren't worth that much," Edward answered. His voice was firm, but his face appeared just a little tighter. He'd heard stories about this happening when he was in England; none of them ended well.
"We agreed to a twenty-year repayment," he continued. "It's only been sixteen. What's going on?"
A smile started to tug at the shark's lips. "I told you," he repeated, "the boss changed his mind. He wants the money now."
The smile made itself fully known. "And I know how you can pay."
Upon hearing this, the mother started to pull her daughter out of sight behind the corner to the kitchen.
She wasn't fast enough. The man spotted them, and his smile widened further. "Your fourteen-year-old will do excellently."
The mother gasped softly. The father swallowed audibly. The daughter just looked up at her mother, confused further.
"You can't do that," the father responded. His voice was scratchy, and his mouth was dry. He knew very well they were allowed to do this.
The shark motioned, and three more men came into view from behind his carriage. All three had muskets. "Let me make this simple, Edward. You can give her to us... or we'll kill all three of you. Your choice."
The girl looked up at her mother. "Mom, what's he talking about?" she asked, with a slight quiver in her voice.
Edward turned to look at his family, then looked back at the loan collecting goon. "We're going to need a bit of time for this."
To his surprise, the shark feigned understanding. "Of course. You have five minutes."
The father took this grant and rushed over to his family, hugging his daughter tightly for a good half minute. He gazed into her vibrant green eyes, not wanting to let her go.
"We can't do this, Edward," the mother sobbed. "We can't just sell her."
"I know, Belle," he agreed, running a hand through his daughter's shoulder-blade-length blonde hair. He looked down at his daughter again.
"Honey... We owe a man in England a lot of money. He's gone back on his word and wants the rest of it right now. Those men want to take you as payment. Do you want to go?"
"No..." she answered. "I never want to leave this colony. I want to stay with you and mother."
The four men stepped inside. "Time's up."
Edward turned back to the men. "You said five minutes. It's barely been one."
Goon One grinned. "I lied." He motioned again, and the three others dropped their firearms to walk toward the family.
"We'd rather die than give up our daughter!" the mother protested.
"Too bad."
Goon Two pried Edward from the girl. Goon Three wrestled Belle away after struggling for several seconds. Goon one stepped forward and grabbed the girl by the arm before she could run. He started pulling her away.
"No! I won't go! Mom, Dad, please!" she screamed.
"Julina... We're sorry..." the mother sobbed. "We can't stop them."
"Be strong, Julina," the father said. "Don't forget us."
"Father... Mother..." Julina sobbed as she was dragged out the door. Goon Four closed it behind them.
Just as the door closed, she heard her father say something. She couldn't understand it, too faint. The next sound, however, she knew quite well. A gunshot.
Then another one.
She stopped moving and looked at her home in horror, not seeing the walls. Instead, she saw her parents inside... dead. She swallowed hard.
"No... n-no... God, please, no..."
The shark, after having waited for a few seconds to smirk at her reaction, jerked on her arm, and she was dragged off.
Julina was sold into slavery to fill a pig's pockets. The money wasn't used for anything good or even useful, just to line a coffer. She never saw her parents again.
< Message edited by Ciaran -- 10/19/2008 20:57:15 >
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