This was written as part of a work project. It is a short fictional passage for an 8th grade U.S. history course.

Daddy came calling for us early this morning. The Sun weren’t even near enough to wakin’. Mostly we rise befo’ the roosters anyway, but today were special.

Shaking my shoulder and smilin’ like a fool, Daddy whispered, “Big Poppa, got a new machine and we hear tell it’s gonna to change cotton farming for now and forever.”

Now me, I don’t much like cotton farmin’. We all wake up real early every day and work in the fields until the Sun he go to bed. It’s hard work and mostly I get real tired. More tired than an old dog. There’s about 200 slaves here, livin’ side by side. Mostly we lives in shacks, fixed up of old pieces of wood. I don’t get a lot to eat, but Momma always say to me, “Son, we gots to use every bit we can get.”

I was borned here but Momma and Daddy came over on a big boat from lands far off. Big Poppa buyed Momma and Daddy from another man and now we all work here on the land.

We go out to see the new machine. Big Poppa, our master, stands proud next to it in the barn.

“Boy,” Big Poppa barked, “this here machine’s gonna make your job easier. You see, it takes the cotton and pulls it away from the seed. Now y’all ain’t got to do it by hand no more.”

“Maybe this mean we won’t have to work so hard from now on,” I says to myself.