A WORN PATH

There was an old Negro woman named Phoenix Jackson. She had a sick grandson who suffered from sore throat. She lived in a house a long way from the town of Natchez. She was going to collect medicine for her grandson. She was carrying a stick made of an umbrella. She slowly climbed up a hill among pinewoods and climbed down the hill among oak trees. She got her dress caught in a thorn bush. She managed to free herself from it. She also crossed a stream at the bottom of the hill walking along a log placed over it.

       She also went through a barbered wire fence by crawling and creeping like a baby. She was safe through the fence and arrived at a clearing, which was a cotton field. She saw big dead trees there and a buzzard. She was glad not to find snakes and bulls, which she often encountered in the journeys she made earlier. Then, she arrived at a cornfield where she took scarecrow as a ghost. She went on parting her way from side to side and reached a ravine. There she drank water from a spring flowing through a hollow log. She continued her journey by walking alone a track that led her to a road. The road went down between the high green coloured banks. This time a dog came up out of the weeds and barked at her. She hit him with a stick that sent her down into the ditch. A white man pulled her up. She thanked him and mentioned that she lived away on the other side of the hill and she was going to town.

       She saw a nickel fell out of the man’s pocket onto the ground. She tricked to send him away after the dog. Then she bent forward and picked up the nickel and put it into her pocket. Meanwhile, a bird flew by which made her realize that God was watching her stealing the nickel. He returned after sending the dog away and pointed the gun at her. However, she remained fearless. The man wanted to give her a time for her boldness but he had not any. She went on and reached the town. It was decorated with green and red lights for Christmas. She encountered a lady walking with presents in her hands for Christmas covered with colorful paper. She asked her to lace up her shoes. She readily tied them.

       Phoenix was now standing in front of a stone building. It was the hospital. She climbed up the stairs and entered the room. A nurse asked about her grandson and gave her a bottle of medicine. She accepted the nickel the receptionist gave her. She looked for the other nickel. She said that she was going to buy a windmill with the nickels to give it to her grandson as Christmas gift.

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