Genre Gala: Historical Fiction: Many Rosas

"Rosa really was a great woman in our country's freedom struggle, wasn't she?" Ten year-old Daniela said.

"She was a civil rights activist, wasn't she?" Luna, Daniela's twin sister said, resting her head on her grandma's lap.

Their grandma, Rosa Sewlyn, smiled. She had chosen the night of fourth of July to tell her granddaughters the story of her namesake. "Yes, Luna."

"Activist. I wanna be an activist!"

Rosa smiled. "Be lucky their isn't a need for activism now, girls. Those were tough times."

"You know what?" Rosa said abruptly. "I'll tell you another story." 

The girls curled up next to her in excitement, and she began.

"A girl stepped out of her house, shuddering at the thought of getting across town on her own. The white guards standing at every road made her nervous, and the glares they gave her made her feel like she'd commited a crime or something. But her parents couldn't leave work, and she had to do the task.

She slowly proceeded along the road and was about to break down crying when a man appeared out of nowhere. His face was covered and she could only see his eyes. She retreated, frightened, but the man kept a reassuring hand on her shoulder and shoved a paper into her hands.

'Can you read, girl?'

The girl nodded fearfully.

"Read this, quick. When you're done, trash it.' 

Suddenly, yells and footsteps sounded. The man burst into a run to flee from the approaching white guards. He looked into the girl's eyes one last time before there was a dreaded, deadly sound. A gunshot.

And as the girl's amber eyes caught his brown ones, he fell to the ground, lifeless.

The girl screamed, as was expected of someone her age in the face of death. One of the guards came towards her. She flinched as he ripped the activist poster out of her hands. She stood there, frozen.

"Scram, girl. What you looking at?" He yelled.

The girl fell into a run, her heart hammering with the few words she had managed to read off the paper. It had read- Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her seat to a white man. 

The dead man's last look swam in front of the girl's eyes. 'This should stop," she said to herself. 'And it will only happen if we try.'

Rosa Sewlyn looked at her granddaughters. "This girl went on to become a founding member of the Southern Conference on Human Welfare and worked to abolish poll tax. Rosa Parks, girls, became famous for the Montgomery bus incident, but she wasn't the only one. Many others, like Virgnia Durr in this case, were inspired by her to help free the country. Not one, but many Rosas. Many Rosas."