The New Life | Teen Ink

The New Life

October 5, 2017
By Stories BRONZE, Gaston,sc, South Carolina
Stories BRONZE, Gaston,sc, South Carolina
1 article 0 photos 0 comments

The year was 1607. I was born into a poor family from England. We made barely enough money to survive we did not own any land because all of it has been taken up for 100’s of years. When I heard of free land in a nice, big unexplored land. I decided to go, but I did not have enough money. Then a week later, I heard of an indentured servant and I would have to work 7 years to work off my debt and 50 acres guaranteed. But it was of the government's choice. So I decided to accept the contract.
¨Today is the day¨  I said happily
¨My mother said I would apply too but I have to stay here to take care of your papa.” she said sadly.
I was told that if we had good weather we would be there in  8-9 weeks. But of course we hit the worst weather, food shortages, drunk people doing dumb things. What happened was that we were told that we had over enough supplies on the boat to make the voyage. But they were completely wrong,  about a month into the voyage we hit raging storms, with waves bigger than the boat. Some of the men on the deck were washed overboard. Those poor people. There were heavy wind up to 80 miles. We were lucky we were not shipwrecked. A few days later we were set entirely off course, but the captain new how to use an astrolabe and he got us back on course. Then there was the food shortages. The food became scarce. What was left of the the food became stale but we ate it anyway. We had too, it was the only way to survive.  At least we had the ocean to help with some food. Then there was disease. We had the minority of the crew got sick. Some died so we had to throw them overboard. Than we made it we would not have lasted much longer. We have arrived in the southern colonies. At least we made it, well what was left of the crew had made it.
Right when I got there, I had no time to rest I was sent to the plantation which I signed the contract to work at. What good timing I had I made it right before it was time to harvest. I was sent to the fields. When the day was over I was sent to a big house full of small beds. (they were not very good) They were stacked up on top of each other to the roof. With enough room to sleep on. The next day I noticed that most of the people were black so I thought they were slaves. The overseers were harsh. They would whip people if they did not think that they were not doing enough work. I  worked in an indigo plantation. My hands were covered in blisters by the end of the day. we got only a little bit of food and water. It does seem like that the southern colonies have a bunch of rich people that own plantations and they depend on slaves to do their labor. that way they overworked the people on the plantation. I get barely enough food and water to stay healthy. Some of the slaves are super skinny because they said they have been of the plantation for many years. They made us grow indigo. it is a cash crop that you can sell for alot of money on the market. This plantation owner makes so much money from each harvest.
The savages (natives) don't take kindly to us colonies moving here. Even though I can’t blame them we did move on to their land. there have been some fights between the colonies and the savages. they did retaliate by setting fire to some of the indigo plantations. The colonies found their village and burned it to the ground. but for some reason their population has been decreasing. I don’t know how they were though.
I’ve been working off my debt for 6.5 years now.  I heard some talk of an escape plan at    midnight. To be honest I will not leave because I want to be an honest and fair citizen and I am about to work off my debt. I asked one of the slaves why are they going to take the risk to escape. They simply said, “To be anywhere but here.”
When it was midnight the slaves started to make their escape. They started along the cotton field then that's when it happened. They were at gunpoint with the overseer and his men.
The overseer shouted, “Anyone that moves gets shot!”
One of the slaves made a run for it. The overseer ordered one of his men to take the shot. The slave dropped, and then the overseer asked mockingly, “Anyone else?”
Then the group of men took the slaves to a barn not too far from here. I figured it was to punish them, but the next day I did not see them on the felds.
when I was working on the field I asked a slave, “What happened to the rest of the people.” I said curiously.
He said, “Over there.” and pointed.
I looked and dropped the tool I was holding and said, “What in bloody heck?”
I saw the slaves that were making the escape the other day were hanged on a cross. The sight was not pleasant because the overseer was whipping the slaves. One of the slaves was already dead.
“He was going to whip them to death,” I said angrily.
The slave said, “Yep, he is using them as an example for anyone else who wants is thinking about escaping.
I am a free man now and I also have 50 acres of land but I decided to sell it because I don't need the land. Now I need a small job till i move. There are not a lot of jobs available at the moment. I definitely can't go to a farm they got slaves to do the work for them.(also I was on one the the last ships to the new world for indentured servants) But I can probably find a job as a printer. I got naturally good handwriting and I can work the machines if they got any. But first before I go into town to try and get the job I need to find a nearby river or stream to wash off.

Now that I’m clean I can find the printers shack. I took some time but I found it and it turns out they need help so lucky me. So I walked in and they were running around and they definitely need more hands.
I said, “Hello,” curiously, “I’m looking for a job here.”
“Ok you're hired,” the man said with a rushed voice. I need you to start writing the daily newspaper.
“What is the daily news?” I asked. Then he told me, and I started writing it.
Two years later I made enough money to start a life and move up to the england colonies. So i got a wagon. The trip to boston cost more than I thought it would. Once I got on the road it was boring. I got a few weeks into the journey, I got low on supplies. So I decided to resupply on food and resources.
A few days later I was stopped by thieves. They said, “Give me all of your supplies.”
I said “NO!” than he pointed the gun at my head and said “let's try this again give me all of your supplies or else”
I still said “NO! “I don’t have the patience for this.”
He said “He’s starting to get Irritated.”
he started to lower the gun, for a brief moment i thought i was in the clear. Then I heard a boom and a sharp pain in my right leg and I fell off the cart.
The thief said “that will teach you not to mess with me, if you live!” Than he took off with my horse and the cart.
Is this what death is like. when you are not capable of doing nothing. When you are one with nature. when you forget you are not special. That you are a normal animal just trying to live because all things live and die. I have so many thoughts swirling around my head. I start to suspend in out of Consciousness.
l felt something tug on my leg than i opened my eyes and saw a man starting to pick me up. than my eyes felt shut.
I woke up on a Couch with tight bangeing on my leg that got shot. the room I was in was a simple living room. with some furniture placed facing a fireplace. the fireplace was made of neatly cut stones. With the walls of the room made of newly cut wooden planks.
I heard a man's voice say, “Glad to see you awake, I thought you wouldn't make it.”
“Who are you?” I asked
“The man who saved your live,” he said sarcastically.  “I found you on the side of the road. You were laying in a puddle of your blood, so what happened to you?” he asked with a puzzled look.
“I was traveling up from the southern colonies to get to new england colonies,” I said
“That still does not answer my question,” he said
“I was attacked by thieves. I tried to stop them but that was a mistake. they left me for dead on the road,” I said.
“Ok then,” he said.’Now I know your story.”
“So now what,” I asked.
“You will stay here till you get better,” he said
“Thank you for helping me,” I said
He said, “It’s no problem helping people is what i do”
Now that I am healed I can finally be on my way to boston. So I bought a gun to protect myself. I had to almost start over because when the thieves stole most of my stuff. I only had some money left because they left in such a rush. Hey, at least the rest of the trip was easy other than the weather. It seemed like the weather was targeting me.
Once I got to Boston, I bought a normal sized house and a 25 acre plot for when I have an family. The plot was not cleared, so I will have to clear it on my own time. I can use the slash and burn method. It is when I burn everything to the ground and I can still use it for farming and whatever else I need. Also, I bought the house on the outskirts of Boston. One thing I noticed was that there were churches in Boston and that the people were really friendly and came out to greet me when I bought my house.
Since I was not too far from the coast, I was able to buy fresh fish for the first time in a long time. The port was bustling with people. The ports were full with ships, people, and markets. I did notice when I started to settle there were lots of churches. But, I did love that the people were nice.
Now I can pursue a job as a shipbuilder because I was always interested with building things. Now that I am boston I can finally get easy access to the ports to start building and engineering new types of ships. Boston is certainly a lot better in person than i thought it would be. The my most favorite part of town was the ports. there were so many friendly faces. there and the had super good market with fresh fish.
I have finally got a job at the ports, as a shipbuilder. I liked the job because I was able to put my building skills to work. The good thing about the job is that it has really good pay. i a I also got married and we had kids. I was successful in life. My wife would stay at home with our kids, while i was at work at the docks. My wife name was ariel, i had two sons and a daughter. Their names were Owen, Blake, and Madison.
...
I awoke to the sound of of screams, gunfire and explosions. I went above deck to see what was going on and there were two ships welding the black flag. so I ran back under the the deck to wake up my shipmate that I was traveling with he’s called James Jackson. when we ran back above deck. that when I realized the intensity of the situation. That we were outgunned and outnumbered. we would would not go anywhere anytime soon because the main mast was into sinking into the ocean. the hull can not take to many more hits from the two ships. The two ships were closing to finish us. I saw that one of the ships had rows after row of slots for canons. one blow from that sucker would cripple our ship one blow. but both ships came to board us simultaneously.
Above the crowd, one of the crew mates suddenly yelled “Grab the guns!”
Before we knew it, the ships were trying to board us from differnt angles. They were using long wooden boards to get to our ship. The crew tried desperately to stop them but failed.



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This article has 1 comment.


on Oct. 10 2017 at 8:56 pm
WritingAddict03 SILVER, Saint Peters , Missouri
5 articles 0 photos 67 comments

Favorite Quote:
Everyone is a genius, but if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree it will live its whole life believing it is stupid. - Albert Einstein

A very good piece! However, I would recommend proofing your work more thoroughly. There were lots of simple mistakes which took away from the overall story because I had to stop and think about what you meant.