“Was it a dream?” Sierra wondered to herself.
It must have been, for she had no further explanation for the previous night’s events. As she processed this, Sierra felt her eyes staring at a book on her desk: the enigmatic diary. There was only one thing she could think to do. Sierra slipped out of bed, walked over to her desk, and opened the book…
Oncoming horse hooves and the chatter of people pushed Sierra’s conscience into reality. She blinked a few times, then realized that she had, once again, been swept into the past via the peculiar diary. After browsing her surroundings, Sierra concluded that she had been whisked off into America during the Civil-War era.
Soon, Sierra became painfully aware that she was not wearing appropriate clothing. However, unlike her past trip, she was wearing a nightgown this time. Needing to blend into the background, Sierra snuck over to the nearest clothing line to find a dress. This time, there were two young African-American girls taking off and folding the clothing on the line. Out of ideas, Sierra reluctantly approached the two.
“Hello!” she awkwardly blurted, when the two girls looked up from their work. Sierra gulped and asked, “Is there any possibility that I could, well, I suppose, borrow a dress? I overslept and did not have time to change out of my nightgown.”
The older girl hesitated, but the younger of the pair plucked a dress off of the line without waiting and handed it to Sierra.
Sierra was astonished that she had managed to achieve this task so easily, and she hastily responded with thanks. “I will be right back!” she exclaimed, as she dashed behind some trees to change. When she returned to where the two girls were, they were now eyeing her skeptically. Trying to ignore their wary glances, Sierra said, “I apologize for not introducing myself. My name is Sierra. What are your names?”
The older girl spoke this time. “I’m Sarah-Grace and this is Molly.”
Over the next few hours, Sierra learned more about the two sisters. Sarah-Grace was fifteen, like herself, and Molly was twelve. Sierra helped the two finish up their laundry task, despite them trying to dissuade her. However, together, the three girls did finish the job quickly.
After they were finished working, Sierra asked the girls if they would like to take a quick walk. Sarah-Grace looked extremely apprehensive and whispered a slew of words to Molly. Although Sierra attempted to persuade the sisters, both girls firmly declined her offer. Instead, Sarah-Grace suggested that they play a game of hide-and-go-seek since the girls had some extra time to spare. As Molly counted to one hundred, Sierra quickly ran to her hiding spot: a tall tree that she had previously spotted. She curled up into a ball and waited. Several minutes passed, and Sierra was about to find Sarah-Grace and Molly when she heard an angry, loud shout coming from somewhere close by.
Sierra peeked out of the leaves of the tree, and she spotted a tall white man reprimanding the two sisters. Both Sarah-Grace and Molly looked absolutely petrified, and it was then that Sierra understood that something horrendous was about to take place. She leaped down from the tree and ran over to where the girls and the man were standing. As she advanced closer, Sierra heard various clips of the man’s words, like “ you two should be inside doing the chores” and “you will be severely punished.”
When Sierra heard the words punishment, she could not contain herself. “Wait, sir!” she exclaimed.
The man and the two girls turned to face her.
Sierra stopped, panting heavily, and rasped, “I can explain everything,”
However, before she could utter a word, the man’s previously cruel expression melted into a warm smile. He responded, “Why hello Miss!”
Sierra was perplexed by his abrupt change in behavior. She stood like a statue, rooted in her confusion and horror, as the man told her that she should “run home and not worry about this ‘situation.’”
“But-” Sierra started to say, but that man motioned with his hands for her to leave.
Without another choice, Sierra sadly made eye contact with her new friends. She tried to apologize with her eyes, but all she saw was blankness in both Sarah-Grace’s and Molly’s eyes. Not fear, sadness, or even anger, but emptiness, as if they had accepted their fate, and that frightened Sierra.
Sierra trudged alongside the roads, trying to figure out what to do next when she began hearing loud shouts of joy. She sprinted towards the source of the noise: Main Street. When she arrived, she saw an enormous crowd of African-American people rejoicing, shouting, and crying. Sierra inquired of the situation from a nearby woman and quickly learned that the Civil War had just ended and even better, the slaves were free! Without another moment to waste, Sierra turned and sped back towards the woods to tell Sarah-Grace and Molly of the good news.
Unfortunately, before she could do so, a catastrophic scene began to unfold right before her eyes. A malicious brawl between the white townsfolk began—they were shouting at the African-American residents. What first began as verbal attacks turned into a physical fight. Sierra was thrust into the swarm of people all around her and found herself being shoved into a nearby general store, which was filled with even more people. Knowing that the entrance of the store was an impossible exit, Sierra located and dashed into a small broom closet in the back of the shop. She planned to wait out there until the fighting settled down, but time had other plans for her.
She was back in the present time. Sierra blinked twice, unsettled. How could she have been sent back without knowing what happened to Sarah-Grace and Molly? Or had somehow, her mind just imagined the two girls? As she sadly processed such thoughts, her eyes fell onto her lap, where the diary was located. The book was opened to the page she had turned to before being transported to the past, but this time, it was filled. The left page was filled with writing, and on the right page was a black-and-white photo of two young, smiling women in their early twenties. Sierra recognized them as no other than Sarah-Grace and Molly.
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