"In our family there is a story that is passed down from one generation to the next. The story is only told when one of the children decides to leave and go beyond the swamps and bayous we've called home for over a century. It is a tale of our ancestors and our birthright. And now that you've decided to leave, it is time you hear the story. Hush, bebette, and listen to your history...

"Not so long ago, our people were brought to this place kicking and screaming in strange tongues the white man could never understand. They brought us here to work their fields, clean their houses and keep their children better than our own. We were stronger than the others they tried to enslave, our bodies were not soft and did not break under the pressures of work or bend from the lashes we received from the slave master's whip. They may have owned they land but it was our blood they spilled upon it, and our hands that toiled to make it a place to live. Yes, they owned it in name but we became one with it in spirit.

"They tried everything they could to keep us down, bebette. They punished us for speaking our language, for performing our rituals, and so many either forgot themselves or did things in secret. Others refused to stay quiet and they hung from trees, bloated, rotting examples of what happened if you did not obey the white man's rules. Your Nanan and Parran were already old at this time. They had stayed quiet, kept their heads down and did what they were told. The white man did not suspect a thing but the other slaves knew, Nanan and Parran were holy people and they had finally decided they would go free.

"On a clear night, when the moon was full and the crickets and frogs covered all noise with their song, Nanan and Parran started a ritual. One that would set them free and make them part of the swamps they had come to love. They had invited others to join and this was their one mistake. There was a Judas among them, one that brought the white man down on them with his guns and dogs. They had no choice but to run and so they did, into the swamps and the white man followed.

"And that, bebette, was the white man's final mistake.

"Nanan and Parran's powers were not to be underestimated, and when they run into the swamp, the ritual was complete. The swamp, she welcomed the slaves with open arms, she made them her strongest children. She made it so they could take vengeance on the white man, and they wasted no time in doing so.

"The next day there wasn't anything left worth finding. Only some ripped up clothes and the torn up mess that was a dog. Gators, they said. The whole lot, slaves and masters must have walked into a nest.

"We know the truth, don't we? And that, bebette, is why you can't leave, not for long. Nanan and Parran, they'll be calling for you soon and when they do, you'll know better than to keep them waiting."