A Slave's Escape to Freedom

I was sent out to collect some goods for the master, and it was there that I saw my way to freedom. I started running, I could feel my heart beating harder and harder, suddenly I met some white men who were whipping slaves that belonged to someone else. I could feel the sweat running down my body. I showed the list I had been given and they let me continue. Finally, I came out of the forest, I was relieved but scared at the same time. An hour later I was now in a city I had never seen before; I hoped these people were good and wouldn't send me back. Some strange white men asked where I was from, which was not surprising considering the clothes I was wearing. I panicked and chose to tell the truth and asked them for help, I fell to my knees and started crying. A man suddenly started saying something about a ship that was sailing for the southern states tonight at the other end of town and that I might be able to sneak aboard, I thanked the man several times and was now on my way to the ship. I had now arrived; the men didn't look very nice, and they would certainly kill me if they found me sneaking aboard. I gave myself a chance to think, but my life couldn't get any worse, so I took the chance. I hid behind some containers, they stank terribly, but it was certainly better than being a slave working in a cotton field. But suddenly without warning, I could hear some men going down the stairs, I could feel the adrenaline in my body, I really thought this was the end for me. I started to pray to God, hoping that they would not discover me, the one man was now a meter away from me, but unexpectedly the other men called him, so he now had to leave. I was dying of hunger but had to ignore it, 5 hours had now passed, and I could hear that we had arrived, I was so happy that I was smiling and humming, but then I just remembered that there were still some on board. But that didn’t matter I was now free.