I now can understand the pain everyone went through. All the torture they endured. The heart-break from being torn from there families. Singing those sad songs. Knowing they won't be back. My name is Nora. I'm only 11 years old. I have three older brothers and two younger sisters. My mom takes care of all of us. My Dad was killed because of the dirty white men. He was trying to protect Mother. Oh poor Mother. All alone. After Daddy being gone for almost two years she doesn't know what to do. My older brother, Johnny helps me out in the fields. I'm the hardest worker there.

The cotton. Oh it hurts so much. When you pick it, your fingers bleed. My older brothers and I work out in the cotton fields. Mother and my two sisters work in the house. Cleaning, cooking, doing their laundry. We only get one day off and that's Sunday. We sing songs and dance. We sing songs like:
"Didn't my Lord deliver Daniel,
deliver Daniel, deliver Daniel,
Didn't my Lord deliver Daniel,
An' why not every man?"

Today it's freezing outside. We are being forced to work in the fields. Mother and sisters are in the house with a fire. My brothers and I are working the fields. Snow covers everything. My brothers, Johnny, David, and Aaron all work hard, but I work the hardest because I want to show off to them. I sometimes make them laugh because I work so hard. Before Daddy died everything seemed so much easier. He would laugh and talk and make work seem easier. But when Daddy said he wouldn't make Mother have any more babies, he was whipped to death. Blood was everywhere. We all were crying. Mother had just given birth to Lucy, the youngest child. She was only a week old when Daddy got whipped. The white men never got another male slave. They said we are enough.

We lived in a cabin on the west side of the plantation. The cabins were about 10 to 20 feet square. We shared with one other family.

The Ross family has 4 kids. There is Marcus, Fortune, Molly, and Jacob. Molly is my best friend. She too works the fields with my brothers and hers. She lost her father the same way I lost mine. They didn't wanna harm our Mom's with more babies. Molly is 12 years old. Her birthday is the same day as mine. She's exactly one year older then me. Marcus and Fortune are twins and are 17. Fortune works the house with the other girls. Jacob is 8. Molly and I both personally train Jacob about picking cotton. He's a fast learner.

We enjoy being together all of us. We are proud slaves. We long to be free but we need to do what we need to do. Whenever it's cold or hot. Rainy or not. We are strong in the heart. We make our owners proud. I can't wait til the day freedom comes. So far it's not going to be soon but we are hoping. We all want a future. I want a family to look after. I may be only 11 years old but I still want to live my life. It is mine after all. They shouldn't take it away from us. Freedom begins now.