Every morning
when I wake up to my throbbing body and hungry tummy I wonder why. When my
frostbitten feet drag across the icy ground, I wonder why. As the freezing
winds whip against my face, I wonder why. During every heartless burial, I
wonder why. I wonder why these people are kidnapping us from our land and I
wonder why they act so cruel. I ask and I ask yet no one offers to answer
my questions. When I ask
people why this is happening they do not respond. They turn away and continue
to trudge down the trail. Nevertheless, I yearn for these answers, the answers
that no one seems to have. Everyday the questions are changing. My questions
are no longer when are we going home, they are why do these pale skins hate us
so. I just do not understand. I just do not understand how one human being can
be so cruel to another. Our tribe has always
been peaceful to the pale skins and others of our kind. We have not done
anything to deserve this torture. Yet everyday we are led farther and farther
from our homes and deeper into the land of the unknown. Many of my people have
died on this journey, a few from my own flesh and blood. All I ask in return
are a few answers to help me lighten the loss and let me know they died for a
cause. However, maybe they didn't. Maybe they died because the gods above found
them unworthy or maybe they died so the gods could spare them from the
hardships ahead. There is no way to know. The only thing I am
truly sure of is that life will never be the same. I will no longer look down
on the valley or frolic through the plains. I will no longer have a home of my
own or a baby brother to hold in my arms. Everything I treasured and held dear
is gone, left behind, forgotten. Who will be the next to wander into our
village I do not know. That is another question with which I cannot find the
answer. I can only pray our village's next inhabitants are not the same as the
people who lead us down this unfamiliar trail. At night as I
search for sleep, I wonder when my journey will end. Will I survive to see the
end of the trail or will hunger and disease claim my life. Some nights I lay
there wishing my soul would leave my body and find happiness once again. I
don't believe there is happiness where we are going and a world without
happiness is something I cannot bear. Still other nights I wish to see this
journey through. Then, it would be proven that I was strong and that pale skins
will never defeat me. I would be invincible. Whichever way
this journey ends I have one goal I am determined to achieve. I am determined
to find the answers to every question roaming in my head. Once I know why we
are being forced down this trail and why the pale skins act so heartless, I can
truthfully say my life has been fulfilled. I just hope that those who come
after me will never have to live through the torture I have on this trail. This
trail of tears is something no one should have to endure. |
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