The Rabbit Proof Fence
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In Te Kahu last week we watched a movie called
"The Rabbit Proof Fence".
This movie is based on a true story about three half-casts in Australia.
(a half-cast is someone who has more than one culture through their blood line)
In the movie, it's about how Molly (13), Daisy (5), Gracie (9), they were taken from their home by the British people. They were taken for a plan to breed out all the Aboriginal blood, so future generations were completely European / British.
Molly, her younger sister Daisy, and their cousin Gracie, escape from Moore River (The site where they hold all the half casts).
They follow the Rabbit proof fence all the way home, for the fence goes across a whole half of Australia.
The whole time they're on the run they are also being hunted by the tracker (which is someone part of the operation).
After we watched the movie we had to write a story based on the movie we watched, from our perspective. Here is the story I wrote:
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I sat with my family along the hard, dusty ground. We gathered under the little shade beneath a tree, hiding from the intense heat of the blazing sun. I play with twigs & rocks in boredom until our peace was interrupted by a disruptive sound; which seemed to grow closer by the slow minutes passing. When around the corner a vehicle charged our way, a cloud of dust consumes our presence.
My parents attempt to block the strange man's way from me as they tell me to grab my cousins, I did so but just as I did the White man heaved my family away and dragged me & my cousins into his car. I yelled and scratched the man to let us free, before he threw us into his black prison. As I stared out the window at my family weeping, they got father and father away, until I could see them no more...
The journey seemed to last for an eternity, as me & my cousins huddled closer together. I stared out the windows, trying to construct a plan about what to do about the situation. We passed many mountains, towns & people. For now all I saw was desert, beyond my sight, everlasting sea's of sand was all to be seen. I was just about to speak to the man-I-despised, until the car's roar came to a stop. I looked outside & woke my cousins Thea and Jacob, the bright blue sky turned black. It was now night I could just see the faint writing on a sign, we had arrived at Moore River.
We were welcomed by a lady who took pity on us, but we remained silent. She showed us a small cabin where around 10 other half casts were trapped, sleeping silently. We cautiously entered the cabin and then lay in our bed; it wasn't long before we dozed off into our deep sleep.
BANG! I awoke slowly as people shouted at us to wake up, people banged the walls with sticks & all the kids began to do so obediently.
Throughout the day we were taught strange songs, ate unusual food and lined up for the roll at the end of the day. A girl named Sala was commanded to take out a disgusting smelly bucket, that had now contained filthy green water. It was until the middle of the night before I decided that we've had enough.
While everyone was lining up for breakfast we took the bucket out and ran for the steep hills. We sprinted through the thin, dry needles of grass , we hopped over branches & dashed through the desert.
The day continued to bake as Jacob & Thea struggled to walk, I marched on as I felt a drop of relief fall on my face. It began to rain, I looked back to find our tracks, lost to the falling rain. I felt calm before I rushed with my cousins behind a bush, a tracker on a horse had been following our tracks. But as time passed he lost interest and soon abandoned our trace. Me & my cousins, exhausted from the run slept peacefully under the tree.
We now knew we were on the hunt, like wild boar fleeing from the viscous hunter. Along the way we encountered many travelers, but we ignored all advice they gave us; except for one strange man. He showered us with cooked kangaroo & fresh water, he told us a story then he mentioned "The Rabbit Proof Fence". I remember the fence was a direct cut between our ranch and the wild, where mischievous rabbits roam free, throughout the bush, forest & rocky terrain. It was now the 4th month of our journey, I began to lose hope as Thea & Jacob waddled together, arms linked around each others shoulders. I fell to the sturdy ground as I lay hopeless, amoungst vast desert, I could feel myself grow weaker by seconds until I saw a glimpse of something in the distance.
I struggled to stand but I did so, confused I studied the building closely until my heart stopped when I saw 2 figures wave & sprint towards us. I began to cry as me, Thea and Jacob began to dash to our parents. I yelled out "mom/dad" as I curled into their loving arms. A waterfall of tears poured down my sweaty face, I held them tight as we slowly fell to the dusty floor. We grasped each other for what seems to last forever, then I listened to their quiet words whisper through my ears... "I won't let you go." I finally knew that I was safe, and I had made it home.
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I enjoyed this task very much, I liked getting creative with descriptive words and getting sucked into the story line.
If you were a half-casts, and you got taken away what would you do?
What obstacles might you face on your journey?
