Saturday, September 13, 2014

There Goes the Neighborhood

It seemed like it was just a normal day, but little did I know that that day would be the start of a horrifying few weeks.
I was helping my mother pick berries as I always did, while my dad and brothers went out to hunt. As I picked a berry from the top of a bush, I saw something in the corner of my eye. There was something in the water, and it was headed right for us.I alerted my mother and we gathered whoever we could to go see what was happening. We could see what looked like a very large ship coming towards us. As it got closer and closer, I was able to see just how gigantic and intimidating it really was. The ship finally approached and out of it came around forty god-like men. They were dressed in the finest clothes I've ever seen. The amount they probably spent on that outfit was unfathomable to me. 
They came to us, asking us tons of questions. I guess they had never encountered people like us before. We told them about us, and about our culture. We all welcomed them warmly, but deep down, I didn't have a good feeling about these strange people who just showed up out of nowhere. 
For the first few days they stayed with us, they seemed like genuinely nice people. They even gave us little gifts. They would also trade us for our items. We taught them our way of living. We taught them how to plant and hunt. Everything seemed to be going great but that bad feeling stayed.
One night, I awoke to the sound of screaming and things being thrown around. As I looked to the source of the noises, I saw the god-like men go to each house, drag the people out, beat them, and then viciously rummage through their house, taking anything valuable. The men violently dragged the people onto the ships. I could see them getting closer to mine and my families house. I had never been more scared in my life. 
As they dragged me, my parents, and my brothers onto their ship, I wondered if we would make it out alive. I also wondered how these seemingly nice people could take advantage of our kindness and hospitality. There went my entire neighborhood, on the ship, to a place we didn't know.

3 comments:

  1. I thought it was really clever how in the end you tied the literal and metaphorical meaning of the "There Goes the Neighborhood" title. :)

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  2. This is one of my favorite blog entries for "There Goes the Neighborhood". Your word choice takes the reader back in time and makes them feel as if they are in the same predicament as the Native Americans. It also reminds the reader that not everyone in the tribe was 100% optimistic about letting the Europeans into their civilization.

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  3. I think this is really well written and I like how you captured the fear of the Native Americans.

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