then, many of the people were captured for slavery. the ones that could fly shed their wings. they couldn’t take their wings across the water on the slave ships. too crowded, don’t you know.

the folks were full of misery, then. got sick with the up and down of the sea. so they forgot about flying when they could no longer breathe the sweet scent of africa.

say the people who could fly kept their power, although they shed their wings. they kept their secret magic in the land of slavery. they looked the same as the other people from africa who had been coming over, who had dark skin. say you couldn’t tell anymore one who could fly from one who couldn’t.

—“the people could fly,”
virginia hamilton

after reviewing the passage from “the people could fly,” write two to four sentences explaining which details are factual and which are fictional.