Ever since I was a little girl, I've always had a passion for adventure. Something more. Something that got my adrenaline running and pumping. I was never like the other children my age. I never liked to play with dolls and I never liked putting on a dress because it made me feel like an antique. My mother tried so many times to turn me into the proper young lady, but each time it just failed. Eventually she accepted me, though she was looked down upon by the nosy folks down the main road.
However, as my mother loved me for my silliness and faults, my father would never accept me as I was because he needed perfection. He was a man that demand and commanded, getting what he wanted done and done perfectly. A wealthy plantation owner and aristocrat, I could never agree with the lifestyle that my father had chosen to live. We could never really have a decent conversation and there would be times when the silence was strange and unsettling. But my father was my father and I was who I was.
As I sit here, looking out into the fresh sunset of August from my windowsill, I feel a sense of guilt. The slaves that worked in the fields always looked so sad and I would be too if I were forced to work in the hot summer sun all day, being told that I'm nothing more than the dirt that I walked on and constantly being whipped for the smallest mistakes. I hated how things were and wished for a world free of human bondage and discrimination. These days, it seemed as if no matter who you were or where you were from, you were bound to be discriminated against. This cruel world of ours is like a child learning how to share for the first time. Never really understanding nor willing to understand at times.
Feeling sickened, I got up from the chair and walked over to my bed, laying on the silk sheets, marveling in its warmth. I enjoyed this comfort while it lasted since my family was to move West, hoping to expand our wealth. I never really understood why money was so important to my father. Sometimes it felt like his greed mattered more than our family. I start to close my eyes, drifting off into a play in my head. I was fighting a masked man who intended to endanger the poor and their children. We were currently in a ferocious sword fight, where he had my backside to the ground, a sweltering fire surrounding us as he pointed his blade of steel toward me. Just when all had seem lost, I kicked him in his loins, where he doubled over, giving me enough time to steal his weapon and plunge it into his dark heart. I smiled as the crowd cheered, calling me a hero and praising my heroic efforts. I almost didn't hear my door open with a large ruckus.
"Oh!" I exclaimed. I looked in the direction of the commotion and saw that it was my friend Maribel. She was a slave and my father called her as such, but I saw her as another human being like me. Whenever we were in the same room as my father, I had to treat her like she was scum, but afterwards I would apologize. She never once hated me and eventually we became close. If my father ever knew of such ordeals, why he would truly be put into an asylum for anger.
"I'm sorry Miss Penelope but the master wants his daughter to get ready for the long journey West." she said as she giggled at my twisted face. I quickly got up as she closed the door and walked over to me to fix my hair.
"I hate him so Maribel. All I want is to see this vast land of America, this so called land of greatness." I said as she tightened the corset on me.
"I know my dear friend but you must bear with him until you get married and have your own children. Now hold still. Your hair looks as if a dog has gotten in it." she laughed as she began combing it. I just huffed in frustration.
I stared into the mirror and looked at my features. Long tresses of brown hair, sea blue eyes and opaque skin graced my features. I then looked at Maribel. Smooth, creamy chocolate skin with beautiful brown eyes and hair up to her earlobe. I stared at her and realized that she was just pure beauty. I made a vow right then and there.
"Maribel, I promise you that I will free you one day. I will change this world and I will help you." I whispered. She stopped, looking at me with an expression that was of happiness and fear.
"Penelope are you okay? You would surely die if you helped me, a slave. Please forget about me and live your life." she said as she started combing again. I quickly turned around and stared at her with a seriousness in my eye.
"I mean it Belle. I truly mean it. I will help you. I swear this on my life." I whispered. She smiled at me as a tear fell from her eye. She quickly wiped it and finished getting ready.
I walked out of my room and down the steps of our huge estate. Sunlight shined in the house as olive walls and brown furnishings graced the main hall. I stopped, watching as men began putting our belongings into the the stagecoach, moving in and out of the mansion. I always hated big houses and believed that comfort came in a small home. My father overlooked the all of this, ordering where certain things should go where. I quickly moved out of his sight, going straight to my mother. She began confronting my younger brother Ralph about keeping his room in proper shape and how many future suitors would not like that. I quietly laughed as his face twisted into disgust. He believed that girls were evil and mean, but I knew that one day he would soon overlook that.
My mother looked up at me and smiled. My mother was a beautiful woman with the same blue eyes as mine and long dark pools of hair that hints of gray in them. She will always be the first person to accept me and love me for that. I graced her with a hug and patted Ralph on the head. "I see that the jester has arrived." I laughed as he glared at me.
"Now now Penelope. Be nice to your brother since we are going to be traveling very far and for many days." she said as she walked outside.
I sighed as began to walk out the house too when I overheard a conversation my father was having with the plantation overseer Capt. Gregory.
"Are you sure William that this is a good idea with war beginning to brew with those lousy redcoats and the French?" he whispered as my father laughed.
"Of course Gregory. If we make it there in time, we will have made it time before the war begins. Don't worry my friend. I will send you details once we settle in but for now, I must leave. Make sure you watch them okay." he whispered before walking towards the stagecoach.
I stopped in my tracks and looked the house that I had called home for eighteen years. I was now leaving it to go live a new life in land barely explored. I looked at my windowsill and saw Maribel there, tears coming out her eyes. I smiled at her and nodded my head, making my way into the stagecoach with my brother of twelve years. We slowly pulled off, leaving my past behind me. I didn't care what my father had instilled in us, this was another adventure for me. This was a chance to be away from the slander that others had put on my family name because I was never up to their expectations. This was my chance to change myself. This was my chance to be in the wilderness like in my stories that I read. This was a way for me to be like the next Joan of Arc, my hero. This trip was my chance to be myself.
I looked out into the vast land before me, awaiting the adventure that was before me. Nothing could stop me now.512Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjMw2jm4VDl
