Dear Diary,

Today my dear mother was sold. I know I'll never see her again. Late this evening I snuck outside to watch the North Star which shone like a diamond on the calm dark blue water of a lake. Mother had once told me how many slaves like her brother had followed that star and were led to the free world. Mother's brave and smart brother, Uncle David, had gone all the way to Minnesota. Since he hated the South so much, he wanted to run far away from it. If I ever had the courage to run away, I'd travel all the way to Minnesota to see my uncle.

While my thoughts spun, my dad came out and told me to get some sleep for tomorrow since I was working extra hard as a punishment. But instead of going into our little wooden house, I started sobbing.

"It's not fair! Just because we're a little different from the whites, does not mean that they should treat us like machines. We're people like everyone else, which doesn't explain why the whites whip us and yell at us to do all THEIR work!"

Father tried to calm me down. "I know Lily, but we have no choice. I would like to be a free man like Uncle David. However, there isn't much hope for us blacks," he answered quietly.

Then, he walked me into the house, covered me with a thin blanket, and told me to dream sweetly. I cried myself to sleep.