Journey to Freedom

The Beginning

Freedom, a word of hope to many. In Krell, the word is a death sentence as uttering the word could result in death. Many died on the journey to a city known to the occupants of Krell as Freedom. The place where the government of Krell couldn't reach you. Many died each year just trying to escape. The guards of the city serving the single purpose of stopping the escape of the many who tried.

-

Hello Dear,

You must be wondering where I am at this point. I'm dead. Well, almost dead. If you've found this letter that can only mean one thing: I've disappeared. I've headed off to Freedom. In closed within this letter is a map, not just any map, the map to freedom. Follow it, it will bring you to Freedom. Don't tell anyone where you're going, we can't risk being caught.

Good Luck,

Lily Herald

-

A young dark haired woman set the letter into a gap between the bricks of the river bridge, she looked around before disappearing off into the woods. The letter hidden well was meant to be found by a young man named Lucas. What Lily didn't know was that Lucas had been taken earlier that day to the court house and found guilty of plotting to escape. The small town they lived in called Krell, had three rules:

1. Don't leave

2. Never talk of Freedom

3. Never ask questions

Lucas had broken of the three rules, he attempted to escape and he talked of Freedom. Freedom was a forest 300 clicks away, no one had made it that far and survived. He was to follow Lily who had left first to clear the path, he was going to catch up to her in Freedom.

-

3 years later

Mark was on his way home from the fields when he noticed a letter in a hole in the river bridge, he picked up the letter and after seeing no name on it opened it. He opened it and read the letter, upon reading it he promptly folded it up replaced it in the envelope next to the map and tucked it in his bag and hurried home. He swiftly walked down the path never taking his eyes off the horizon. He turned off the main path onto a rocky overgrown path, the path was so overgrown that it was almost impossible to tell what was path and what was not. He continued on until he reached an old cottage in the middle of the woods. He entered the cottage and set his bag on a chair and moved toward the kitchen.

He moved around the kitchen cooking up a small meal. The cottage held two rooms, a large main room holding the kitchen, a table with 2 chairs, and an old fireplace. The second room held a bed and dresser. The cottage to the outside would appear normal, but to anyone who knew the occupant knew it was anything but.

Mark after cooking the meal placed it on the table and pulled the letter out of his bag and opened it. He reread it before opening the map. The map was quite impressive, the details coating the map showed every mountain, bridge, and stream. While he was admiring the map he noticed that there was a medium sized blue circle sitting at the top of the map. He after closely studying the rest of the map came to the conclusion that, the blue dot marked Paradise.

He realized now he had two choices, he could remain here or take off and go to Paradise. He came to his conclusion quickly. He scarfed down the meal before rushing around the cottage packing. Anyone would give up their life to get to Paradise. Here in Krell, you had one job. If you strayed from your job; bad things happened. Take Lucas Heart for example, he was found plotting to leave rather than tending to the wheat fields, he was publicly executed. The following day his fiance, Lily Herald, was found missing. If you had the chance you took it, you didn't tell anyone and you never came back.

He had known Lily Herald, she was his best friend before she disappeared. Now he knew, Lucas hadn't been alone in his plans. If Lily was in on it and had already left, than she probably had reached Paradise and was waiting. If he could get there he could tell her, and join her in Freedom.

After packing he looked out the small window in the back of the cottage, the sun was setting. Now would be the perfect time to make a break for it, if he could make it at least outside of the city he would be able to escape. He's be home free, never to return to this dreadful city.

Wait, if he left what would happen to Rachel, his mother, she would be all alone. His father was unknown leaving her all alone if he left. He'd half to leave her with a letter. He couldn't just leave her without any idea on where he went.

He ran over to his desk and started to draft the letter, he still had a few hours before he had to be off, between guard shifts around 11 p.m.. The letter took up a few pages as it detailed the fact that he was leaving for an undisclosed amount of time and was unsure when or if he would return. Mark knew there was no chance of his return with the way the city was run. He would be risking death if he returned, no matter the circumstance. Many city guards were only stationed to prevent the citizens from escaping. There wasn't anything out there to protect from, no other cities in the area