An Independance Day Story; The Yearning

 

Our story begins in the fifteen hundreds, at the second Roanoke colony. On the evening of July third, a small young woman sat on a worn out, squeaky old rocking chair, in a dark, dingy, leaky cabin. Knitting in the one dark corner where rain seemed to not leak in. As she sat, and knit, she thought about all her children who had died, and her husband who had not returned or sent word since he left back to England a few years ago. She thought he was dead. This thought did not cause her much grief, she didn’t really love him, never has, her heart belonged to a forbidden other. That others face crossed her mind as it often did. “Oh Sally, my sweet lovely maiden, how I yearn to be with you” she mumbled to herself, right as the door swung open, and lighting lit up the night sky, she saw a big burly bearded man standing in the doorway. “What is it Captain Webber?” she asked, slightly frightened. “Oh Henrietta, I can’t find my daughter, have you seen her? Have you seen Sally?” Captain Webber responded. Henrietta became scared, though she had to remain stoic, lest her fear reveal her feelings. She coughed, and in a calm voice said “no, not since this morning, when she dropped off some scones, she had said she was going right home” Henretta’s eyes trembled as she remembered the intimate scone breakfast her and Sally had shared that morning, as they had every morning, in secret. Henrietta jumped up from her chair, dropped her knitting needles and fabric and said “I will help you find her, I’m sure she is fine” as her and Captain Webber headed out the door, she thought, oh Sally my love, please be alright.

    Henrietta and Captain Webber walked around the colony calling “Sally, Sally, where are you Sally”. As they walked around the colony they chatted. “So any word from your husband Brad?” Captain Webber asked, Henrietta shook her head and said “no, not for some time, I have accepted that he is likely not coming back” Captain Webber sighed “I am so sorry Henrietta” She sighed and said “thanks, but it is fine, like I said I have accepted it” “you’re a strong woman Henrietta, stronger than most men I know, including myself, I don’t think I could accept it if Sally were-” Captain webber stopped, as the thought was too painful to speak. “I don’t think I could either” Henrietta mumbled quietly. Captain Webber looked surprised and said “What?” Henrietta, realizing she wasn’t quiet enough, cleared her throat and said “I mean, you won’t have to, I am sure she is fine, we will find her” Captain Webber nodded as he continued calling Sally’s name.

    As the search continued outside of the colony, Henrietta and Captain Webber split up. Henrietta went east into the east woods, calling “Sally, Sally where are you” alone, her voice became more desperate, as she cried “Sally my love, please, I can’t live without you, I don’t want to, and couldn’t even if I did” as she screamed she began to cry, as the rain poured blending with the tears on her wet face. As she fell to her knees screaming, crying, tears and rain rushing down her face, in the distance she saw a shadow that she immediately recognized. “Sally” she screamed as she got up and ran towards her. The shadow disappeared into some bushes as Henrietta ran through them. Suddenly the rain was gone, the sun shining bright. Henrietta stopped in shock. It appeared as though she was in a whole nother world. A sprawling village of cabins, and waterwheels. In a field of bright green grass and wild flowers she saw Sally clearly standing in a clean white dress, smiling and waving at her. Henrietta ran towards her, her tears replaced with a smile like the rain replaced with sun. She ran, smiling and screaming “oh Sally, my love, I was so worried are you alright?” As she finally reached Sally she grabbed her hands and they twirled around the field as Sally spoke “yes, yes, in fact I am better than just alright, I am perfect, now that you are here” They fell to the ground still holding hands, smiling and laughing. As her laughter quieted Henrietta asked “here? Where is here? exactly?” Sally smiled and answered “I know not where but it matters not, what, is the important question and what is here is a land where we can all be ourselves and live freely, no fear, no loss, just love and freedom.” Sally then kisses Henrietta.

    Henrietta is shocked and pushes Sally away for a moment, looking around saying “Sally what are you doing? Someone could see us” Sally responds “I am doing what I have wanted to do since I first met you, and it matters not who sees us, like I said here we can be ourselves. Unless” Sally begins to look sad and continues “you didn’t like it” she bows her head in sadness, before Herietta reassures her “no, no, twas wonderful, the best in fact, I have wanted this for so long, and twas better than I ever could of imagined, I didn't even know a kiss could feel that good, I just, are you sure? If anyone back home saw us, we could be stoned” Sally looked up smiling and said “back home yes, but here, here we are allowed to feel good, and I want to make you feel amazing” as she twirled her finger around Henrietta’s blouse, smiling suggestively. Henrietta breathed heavily, as Sally’s fingers began to unbutton her top, as she kissed her lips again, the breeze blew by taking Henrietta's blouse with it as she and Sally fell to the ground entangled in each other's arms.

After they lay in the grass holding each other, twirling each other's hair, and smiling. Sally says "I have dreamed of you so many times, and now to actually be with you, tis, I can’t even describe how amazing it feels, I, I, I love you”. Sally had a nervous smile as Henrietta kissed her and said I love you too, I have never wanted anything more than to spend the rest of my life with you, oh how I wish we could be together forever” Sally smiled and said softly what she had long wanted to say, but never thought she would be able to “marry me” Henrietta was shocked “I would love too, there is nothing I would love more, but, we can’t, oh how I wish we could but we can’t.” Sally smiled and exclaimed excitedly “here we can” Henrietta still did not understand how different this world was. Looking skeptical, Sally grabbed her hand, jumped up and said, "come with me” Henrietta got up, smiled and asked “aye, but where?” Sally answered, “to get married silly”.

    Down the hill of wildflowers, in town Sally and Henrietta held hands and skipped along by shops, stands and booths of all kinds. Henrietta looked nervous, scared of judgment or worse, but all the people they skipped by, many of whom looked rather familiar, just smiled, waved, or at worst were indifferent. “We are here” Sally said as they stopped in front of a small building that looked like a chapel with the words TALK TOWN inscribed above the doorway. Henrietta suddenly got more scared “here, a chapel? But” “Just come on” Sally responded as she pulled the nervous Henrietta inside. Inside was nice but not very religious looking. A man stood on a stage waving at Sally. Sally approached with Henrietta behind. “Shaman, this is the girl I told you about,” Sally said. “Ahh the one you love, tis an honor” The Shaman said as he reached his hand out. Henrietta nervously shook his hand and said “h, hi, I am Henrietta” The Shaman smiled and said, “so you two want to get married huh?” “Yes! Yes!” Sally said excitedly. Henrietta just stood there silently for a moment as the Shaman looked at her. Finally she spoke “there is nothing I want more than to be with Sally forever, but I don’t see how, tis forbidden” the Shaman spoke softly “I know, where you come from it is, and that is very sad, that you can want something so much, but be kept from it because others think they know so much better than you that they have the right to take away yours, but here my dear, here no one thinks that, and here no one can take away your right to be happy” Henrietta slowly smiled and asked “really?” “Really” the Shaman responded with a smile.

They discussed and decided that they would get married that night, in the moonlight. The Shaman said “make your arrangements, I am going to get the festival ready.” “Festival?” Henrietta wondered “for your wedding, the towns folk here love love and want to celebrate it in all its lovely forms” the Shaman answered with a smile, as he headed out the door. Standing there nervously excited, gazing into the eyes of her beloved, Henrietta suddenly realized she had nothing to wear and spoke “I can’t wear these rags on the best day of my life, I need to go get my nice dress” “you are beautiful in anything, or nothing” Sally said with a smirk. Henrietta laughed and said “stop” in a playful tone, before continuing “but seriously I need to go get my dress, it won’t take long”. As she headed for the door, she stopped, turned back to Sally and said “what about your father?” “What about him?” Sally asked. “Well, I don’t know, he was really worried about you, and is probably still looking for you, and I know he wouldn’t accept us, but he should at least know that you are well, and happy” Sally thought for a moment and then said “aye, I suppose you are right” as she walked over to a table in the corner, took a piece of parchment and a quill and wrote a note, folded it up and said “drop this at his house, but don’t let him see you, he will try and stop us” Henrietta nodded and headed back to her home for the last time.

Back in the colony she slowly approached Captain Webber’s house. She nervously put the letter by the door with a rock holding it down, making sure to not be seen. It was dark and late and so she assumed he would be asleep. She did not notice the curtain of the window open slightly as she ran off. Back at her house she grabbed her most beautiful dress, a dress she loved but did not wear very often, her husband had told her it was too revealing and wouldn’t let her wear it outside the house. She put the dress in a bag with some knickknacks and pictures of her now dead children, she left the ones with her husband, and headed back to Sally, she was so much happier and more excited than she had ever been.

    The bright moonlight acted like a spotlight on the happy couple on their happiest night. Standing outside on the steps of the chapel, Henrietta and Sally held each other's hands, gazing into each other's eyes as the towns folk gazed at them. Although many were familiar, Henrietta did not know any of them but there was not a group of people she would have wanted more to witness her wedding to the one she loved most. The Shaman spoke in a traditional tone, speaking traditional words of a wedding “dearly beloved, we are gathered here today, to celebrate the love, and solidify the bond of Henrietta and Sally.” The towns folk cheer as the Shaman turns his head to Henrietta and continues “do you Henrietta take Sally to be your wife, to have and to hold, in sickness and in health, for as long as you both shall live?” “And beyond, I do,” Henrietta said with a smile as the Shaman turned to Sally and repeated “do you Sally take Henrietta to be your wife, to have and to hold, in sickness and in health, for as long as you both shall live?” “Always and forever, I do” Sally responded before the Shaman continued “Well then by the power vested in me by the trust of a free people, I now pronounce you wife and wife, you may kiss the bride.” Henrietta and Sally then lean towards each other to kiss. As their lips lock a scream from the audience arises “WHAT THE HELL?” Gasps from the crowd as Sally looked over suddenly frightened as she saw who was yelling, and said with fear “father?”

Captain Webber approached his daughter as he yelled at Henrietta “you witch, what have you done to my daughter? Some sort of spell, bewitched her with your evil degeneracy” as he raises a hand to strike, the townsfolk grab him and hold him back as the Shaman steps in front of Sally and Henrietta and speaks “this is a land of peace and love sir, so I must ask you to calm down” As Captain Webber struggles, the towns folk wrestle him to the ground, where he yells again “peace huh? Well then let me go ""peace is the essence of freedom, and freedom must be protected, and we will fight to protect it” the Shaman responds. “Freedom, huh? What about my freedom?” Captain Webber screams. The Shamans libertarian wit shows as he responds “your freedom to hinder another's freedom, is no freedom at all, your right to swing your fist ends at her face” Captain Webber continues to scream and fight yelling “I will kill the witch who has bewitched my daughter” The Shaman, done talking to Captain Webber says to the towns folk “he needs to calm down, take him to a place where he may” the towns folk nod as they drag Captain Webber kicking and screaming to a secure cabin.

The hours pass into the next morning as the Shaman enters the cabin where Captain Webber sleeps. As he awakens the Shaman asks “ah good you are up, but are you calm?” Captain Webber snarls “as calm as I could be knowing some witch and her cult has stolen and soiled my beautiful daughter” “we have not stolen anyone, you have gotten closer to stealing your daughter than we ever have” Captain Webber looked confused as the Shaman continued “through your rigid expectations taking from her her right to be who she is and to seek happiness with the one she loves, you have stolen years of her freedom, we simply gave it back, as we have done for many over the millennia. You see this utopia was formed out of the immortal yearning that all humans have. The yearning that can be stomped on but can never be stomped out, the yearning to breathe free. And for as long as that yearning yearns, this town and all its folk will be here, giving back the freedom to those, like your daughter and Henrietta who have had it stolen from them.” Captain Webber did not know what to say as he just sat there contemplating, the Shaman continued “give that a ponder, we will see you soon” as he bows out and leaves.

    Inside the chapel like building the towns folk talk about what to do about Captain Webber. Many suggestions are thrown around, some scream to just let him wither in the cabin, some say exile, one even suggests hanging as the only viable option. As the towns folk continue to debate, hearing all opinions, yet agreeing on none. That is until a child, noticing Sally’s silence, speaks up “He is the father of our very own Sally, is he not?” The towns folk nod, the Shaman says “in deed he is” and the child continues “well then, why don’t we hear what she has to say, she likely knows him better than any of us, so I say the decision should be hers.” This seems to quiet the towns folk down, as they nod in agreement with the child. “A consensus has been reached” the Shaman says, as he turns to Sally and continues “Sally, my dear, the choice is yours”. Sally sits silently contemplating for a moment, before speaking up, “I would like to speak to him” as she gets up the towns folk follow and she turns back to them saying “alone” as she continues towards the secure cabin.

Sally opens the door to the cabin where her father lay. As he sees her he gets up and begins yelling “Sally, Sally, my dear, what have they done to you?” Sally calmly responds “they have done nothing other than allow me to be myself and to be happy with the woman I love” Captain Webber unable to let his restrictive beliefs go says “oh my lord, tis worse than I thought, that witch Henrietta has seduced you with her witchcraft, cursing you, though maybe there is still a chance, the priest back home can”- Sally interrupts “god, no, father, you are not listening, I am not bewitched, I am not cursed, I am in love” “with a woman?” Captain Webber wonders in disgust. “Yes with a woman, with Henrietta, I have loved her since I first laid my eyes upon her, and I have never wanted anything more than to be with her, and now I am, happier than I ever thought I could be, and you just can’t accept that, why? Why do you not wish for my happiness father?” Sally yells, upset and saddened by her fathers lack of acceptance. “Tis forbidden, tis a sin, tis an abomination unto the lord thy god” Captain Webber replies softly, with confusion, beginning to wonder if even he believes it still. Sally responds stoically “Well if god cannot accept my love, than I cannot accept his, and the same goes for you father” Captain Webber screams “BLASPHEMY” Sally nods, saddened, and says “well then so be it, you are not welcome in my new home here father, you must leave” as she turns towards the cabin door. As she exits her father, looking distressed and saddened yells “WAIT” Sally turns with little hope, her father stands silently, knowing what he wants to say, but not knowing how, he blurts out “the priest, he can help you, he can”- Sally interrupts her father, shaking her head saying, “goodbye father”.

    Outside the cabin she announces to the town folk “my father will not accept this place; he must be sent back and kept away”. Almost in tears she turns to Henrietta who hugs her as she begins to cry, Henrietta whispers “tis alright, I am so sorry”. The Shaman says to the towns folk “alright lets make sure he gets home safely and can never find his way back” the towns folk enter the cabin, put a hood over Captain Webber's face and escort him into the east woods outside of the utopia. As the Shaman turns to Henrietta and Sally saying “I am so sorry Sally, if there is anything you need we are all here for you.

As the year goes by Captain Webber back in Roanoke is having a hard time. As famines and shortages continue, food rations dwindling everyday, he does not know how to care for his people. Although he tries hard not to think of the daughter he believes to be cursed he cannot help but wonder, if he failed her how can he hope to not fail the people of Roanoke. As he sits on the deck of his home a farmer approaches. “Another harvest lost sir, and with the livestock dying, the smokehouse will be empty and with the smokehouse empty, I do not know how we will survive the winter, especially since this winter is meant to be particularly harsh” “thank you for more bad news” Captain Webber says angrily, the farmer just nods and says “sir” as he walks away. Captain Webber continues to ponder how he might save his people. As he does the thought of Sally comes into his mind, he tries to push it back, but soon her face is all he can see. He sees her kissing Herietta and is disgusted, before he recalls what he must’ve missed that day. He sees her smile, bigger and brighter than it had ever been. His disgust suddenly becomes sadness as he falls to his knees crying “oh Sally, what have I done? I have forsaken you, my only daughter, oh Sally, oh Sally I am so sorry”.

That winter was in fact particularly harsh. Snow storms and blizzards that knocked over cabins were the best of it, as the low food rations led to many children starving, and the cold led to even more freezing. As the winter passed fear and grief continued to worsen. The people praying, attempting to bargain with their lord, promising to accept anything, if it could only get better. This made Captain Webber think of the daughter that he could not accept. This thought transitioned to a curiosity. Were they serious? Would they really accept a land of sin if it could save their lives? The elderly priest had died in the winter, maybe, without his influence Captain Webber could convince his people to accept what he could not. This thought came and went. As summer came again, life continued to get harder, and conditions worse. Food shortages and famines continued. Captain Webber wondered again as he saw his people yearn for safety, could the utopia really hold the answer? He decided to announce his idea to the colony. As he stood in the middle of the square he projected his voice “gather round, gather round” the people did as asked as Captain Webber continued “I might have an idea that could maybe save us, but we are going to have to abandon not only this place, but our rigid rules and beliefs” The people mumbled in confusion, as Captain Webber asked the most important question “if our salvation could only be achieved by relocating to a land of what we call sin, would you accept it? To save your lives, could you accept it?” The people looked more confused, but soon one nodded, then another and yet another. Captain Webber said “aye, I cannot make any promises, but if you can promise me you can accept sin, than I promise you I will do everything I can to get you into a safe haven, even if I cannot follow” Captain Webber then walked away into the east woods, the people still confused but continuing to nod, finally having an ounce of hope.

    That night Captain Webber found himself at some bushes pushing past them he noticed nothing, not like the last time he had followed Henrietta through them into this land. He began to get angry with worry, “NO, NO NO” he screamed as he fell to his knees, looking up to the sky as if to pray, but not to god, he yelled “I know you can hear me, please, I am so sorry, I don’t expect forgiveness nor for you to accept me, lord knows I couldn’t accept you, but please my people are cold and starving please just give them a chance they promised they can do what I could not and accept you, if you could only find it in your heart to accept them, please” He screamed as bowing his head towards the ground, crying and continuing softly “please, we are so cold, so hungry, and so, so tired. As he cry, he felt a presence standing above him. Looking up right into the eyes of the Shaman who said with a smile “bring us your tired”.

Captain Webber does just that. He gathers his people and takes them to the bushes, walking through they are all in awe. The world, bright, lush, and beautiful. As the last of the colonists head into the utopia, the Shaman walks with Captain Webber. He says “I promise your people will be safe, fed and cared for” “and Sally?” Captain Webber asks. The Shaman smiles and says “she is wonderful, her and Henrietta are happy” Captain Webber still slightly disturbed, makes a face of disgust in reflex before forcing a smile saying “I am sorry, I am so glad she is happy, really I am, I just still struggle with my worry, all my life I was told twas wrong, and now I am beginning to realize I was told a lie, but a part of me is still stuck with that lie, does that make sense? No probably not” The Shaman says “on the contrary, I understand all too well, the lies we are told stick with us even after we know they are lies” they both smile as they continue to walk silently. Back at the now deserted wall of the Roanoke colony, the Shaman takes a knife and carves CROATAON into the wall. Captain Webber, confused, asks “why carve the name of a tribe?” The Shaman smiles and says “To your people tis just the name of a tribe, that is good it will throw off would be tyrants, but to my people and those who know, I mean really know, those that seek to be heard it means talk town.” The Shaman then turns away and walks back towards the utopia. As Captain Webber sits by the wall, the Shaman turns back to him and asks with a smile “are you coming?”

    As the years pass the utopia progresses. Sally and Henrietta’s love stays strong. It takes time but the bond between Sally and her father repairs and even strengthens as the years become centuries. The timeless nature of the utopia is inherited by its people. Not so for the outside. War and tyranny continue. The Roanoke colony long abandoned, many once poor colonies now thriving, attracting the attention of the overseas tyrants. Sally and Herietta leave the utopia for the first time in centuries, ageless they find themselves in the world of the late seventeen hundreds. Tensions are high in the now more united American colonies. Sally and Henrietta open a tavern to understand the struggles of the outside world. One night a depressed patron sits at the bar. Sally strikes up a conversation with him as she pours him a drink “what’s got you down?” She wonders with a smile, the man looking up at her says “oh this new tax on the tea, t’will ruin us, I do not know why the empire is doing this, for so long they ignored us, meant to fend for ourselves, no aid, many died, a few colonies even disappeared without a trace, but we persevered, independent and poor for so long, we made something of this new land, and now that we are finally beginning to thrive, the empire all of the sudden wants something to do with us, our wealth our resources, all of the sudden we must be dependent on them, it almost feels as though they want us to be poor.”

Sally smiles and pours another drink for the man as she says “well it sounds like you should declare your intentions” the man looks up at her, slightly confused, asking “my intentions?” “For independence from the empire, you have already shown you can survive without them, so make it clear you intend to do just that, declare your independence.” Sally answers. “Declare our independence, aye, declare our independence, like a declaration of independence” the man says now excited and full of life, he continues “thank you, thank you my dear, ahh” “Sally, and you?” Sally asks “yes of course Thank you my dear Sally, and I am Thomas, Thomas Jefferson” the man responds as he bows and tips his hat to Sally before running out the Tavern door, calling to a friend “George, George, I have just had the most wonderful idea”.

A few years passed as Thomas and many of his other friends worked on and refined their declaration of independence, finally on the day of July Fourth seventeen seventy six it was finished, and announced to many colonists in Philadelphia. At the announcement Thomas Jefferson notices Sally, they wave at each other and he begins approaching her to give his thanks once more. However he loses her as she turns behind a building. The next day he takes his friends to the Tavern, he walks inside and a man is behind the counter. Thomas says “good day sir, could you tell me is your bar maid Sally working today?” The bartender looks confused and says “we do not have a bar maid named Sally, we never have.” Thomas is confused, his friends think he is insane, but he just smiles, knowing that she was real he says to himself, like a prayer or mantra “oh the embodiment of Lady Liberty, you may be gone but your inspiration remains, thank you”

Nearly another century passes. Sally and Henrietta have seen their inspiration for what is now the United States come and pass. Deterred almost slightly, on the night of June Nineteenth eighteen sixty five. They sit in the woods by their utopia with the Shaman, by a fire Sally wonders “why, why did I fail?” “Fail? What are you talking about, the Shaman asks. “I thought I was inspiring a new land of freedom, but they kept the same rigid rules that oppressed me and even kept people in bondage and servitude, because they looked a little different, hardly the land of freedom I had envisioned” The Shaman laughs, saying “progress” Sally asks “what? Why are you laughing? What do you mean?” The Shaman continues “you helped inspire progress, the fight for liberty is a fight that will never end, though tis one you have shown yourself to be committed to regardless, and that is admirable” Sally says “aye, I suppose you are correct”still looking down. The Shaman continues exclaiming “see, look at how far they have come, you are correct the independence at first was for a few alone, but it has slowly but surely expanded to more and more, now celebrating the end of that bondage and servitude, do you not think you played a part in that?” Sally still looks down as Henrietta puts her hand on her knee and says “you definitely did” this finally makes Sally smile as she kisses Henrietta and says “thank you darling” The Shaman jokingly respond “that is what I was trying to say, but one word from your betrothed and all of the sudden you get it, damn guess I know where I stand” They all laugh as the fire crackles and sparks fly.

Duncan was a well-educated slave, one of the only. As a result, when slavery ended and sharecropping began, he did the math and realized it was not any better. He tried explaining this to his fellow slaves and although they could not understand the math, they believed him as they knew he was smart, and respected him as a leader. As a result, he led them to escape a plantation taking supplies with them. Knowing they would be hunted for theft of things they knew they had long since earned but also knew the state would not see it that way. Supplies running low as they made it to an old wall, mostly torn down and overgrown with bushes by now. Duncan noticed the word CROATOAN carved on a pillar. He wondered about it, for some reason a thought kept crossing his mind. He mumbled to himself “talk town” as a friend approached him saying “Duncan, we are out of food, many don’t know what to do, are you sure we made the right call? Maybe you were wrong, maybe that sharecropping wasn’t such a bad idea?” “Maybe slavery wasn’t so bad either” Duncan responded, slightly annoyed. His friend bowed his head saying, “sorry boss you are right, I should not have questioned you, I am sorry”. Upon hearing this Duncan became upset at himself “NO, he screamed I am not your boss, you have every right to question my judgment, and I appreciate the trust you have put in me, and I should not have reacted the way I did, so I am sorry, now I will go into the woods and hunt for something to eat and in the morning we will discuss what y’all wanna do”. His friend nodded as Duncan headed east into the woods.

The woods were bare and dry. Duncan tried but failed to find something to eat. No animals to hunt, no herbs to pick. Duncan began to feel like a failure. “Is there nothing I can do for my people? They have given me their trust and I cannot give them their lives, I have failed them” he yells to the sky. As he is just about to head back to his people he sees sparks and smells smoke. He decides to follow those sparks and that smell. Soon he arrives at the camp of Sally, Henrietta, and the Shaman. “Who are you?” Duncan wonders, before speaking again “nevermind it matters not, please can you help me? I have people, we were slaves, who ran knowing that what comes next will be no better. I convinced my people to leave and they trusted me. Now we are starving, please if there is anything you can spare we would be eternally grateful, I wish I could offer you something in return, but we are tired and so poor” Sally immediately stands and says “bring us your tired” followed by Henrietta standing and adding “your poor”.

The would-be slaves find themselves a new home in the utopian talk town. Again progressing at a much faster rate than the dystopian world outside. Centuries pass yet again and on the evening of July fourth 2025 a libertarian rally is held. On the streets true libertarians from all over protest the descent into fascism, seen through unblocked executive action and mass deportations. A young libertarian named Carlos Sanchez, a first born American of undocumented parents leaves his small apartment huddled with his massive family. All scared they will be taken away from the only home they have known at any moment. Carlos, scared for them and angry at how little it seems he can do to protect them, decides to attend this rally, feeling a protest is his only small chance.

    At the protest crowds are chanting “NO HUMAN IS ILLEGAL” and “AN ATTACK ON ONE IS AN ATTACK ON ALL” as well as “NOTHING YOU CAN TAKE, WAS EVER WORTH KEEPING”. After the rally Carlos attends an event at a bar where local libertarians go to discuss issues and their fears. At the bar Carlos talks about his family and how scared they are “I cannot believe it has come to this, my mother and father came here looking for a better life, and for many decades they found it. My father started as a barber at a shop, now he owns that shop, my mother after giving birth to me worked as an assistant to a seamstress, learning how to sew costumes for plays and movies. Now independent she has worked on major Hollywood pictures, with major celebrities like Johnny Depp and Pedro Pascal. All my life they were confident and fearless, and now I don’t know, I have never seen them so afraid, they have lost many friends, more in the past six months than in my entire life. Forced out of their homes and into vans, never to be seen again, like some sort of Gestapo or secret police, is this the America the founders envisioned? I cannot imagine it was ""I know for a fact twas not” Sally said with a comforting smile. Her smile made Carlos smile, blush and nervously look down and away.

After this meeting Sally left and Carlos, determined to ask her out, followed her. So nervous as he walked trying to regain the confidence his parents had taught him and seemed to lose recently. For some reason in his mind if he could talk to her he could reclaim that lost confidence and maybe reteach it to his family. It was all he had. The thought of maybe getting a date did temporarily ease his fear for his family but it was still very much present. As he followed her it got dark and as she approached the woods he began to feel like a creep. I shouldn’t be doing this, he thought, but there’s just something about her. That smile had made him feel better than he had in months and he was determined to talk to her, maybe ask her out, but at the very least thank her for that small comfort. Walking by some rotting trees over a pole he thought he saw the letter C on and had an out of nowhere thought and for some reason mumbled to himself “talk town”.

Seeing Sally head through the bushes he pushed past and what he saw on the other side, he almost couldn’t comprehend. The land was so different, the air smelt better, the flowers looked prettier, and the grass was actually greener. He saw Sally hugging and kissing Henrietta, he felt disappointed, but had basically forgotten his crush at this point. As the land immediately felt like home to him, he wondered if it could for his family as well. Captain Webber, ageless like his daughters, pointed at him and said "who is this?” Sally looked over and hollered “Carlos? What are you doing here?” Her confused look made him feel embarrassed and ashamed but emboldened by the new land, he approached and began to speak “I am so sorry, I must look like a total creep, but when you said what you said it I don’t know it made me feel better than I have in a long time, and I wanted to thank you, and um, ask you out, but we can forget that now, is this your home?” Henrietta, Sally, Captain Webber, and the Shaman all laughed. Captain Webber, still laughing, said to Sally “ah young love, let him down easy honey” Sally said “aye father” laughing as she turned to Carlos and said “yes this is my home and this is my wife" "wife? Oh well you’re a very lucky lady and I apologize” Carlos said to Henrietta, to which Henrietta responded “I know and I can’t really blame you she is something special isn’t she” as she rubbed her nose with Sally’s before kissing her. Carlos said “well congratulations” the group laughed louder, “been centuries since we heard that, tis nice, thank you” Henrietta said. Carlos nervously laughed thinking the centuries line was just a joke before saying your home is beautiful, so much property, I wish my family had a home like this, right now we are just  in a small apartment, not even a balcony. Just a tired, poor huddled mass.” They all looked at each other grinning before Captain Webber said what the Shaman had to him all those centuries ago “bring us your tired” Sally jumped in adding “your poor” Henrietta added “your huddled masses” Before the Shaman with a smile finished “yearning to breath free”!       

 THE END!!!