Chapter 2 ~ The Disaster

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Dear Readers, please note that in this story I am taking the perspective of a North Korean that hates South Korea. And so when I bash South Korea in this chapter and the following chapters, please don't take it as if I personally am the hater. In actual fact, I love South Korea.

South Korea. The name even scared me. I felt my hair rise and my skin roughen. I was electrified. I felt as if I was part of this huge conspiracy against the North Korean political system as I was about to break the law, and one of the most sacred laws.

The thought of being able to say ‘I’ve been to South Korea,’ after this excited me. Virtually no one in North Korea can say that.

South Korea. The excitement was soon replaced with bitter distaste as I realized that I will be riding over the same waters that those South Korean terrorists ride over. Those monsters that have massacred my people, and tried to steal our land, and disrupt the peaceful living in which we North Koreans proudly live. I am so glad I ended up in the North. I love my country and the strong men that have come to rule it.

My cousin said that he had better leave and check in with the rest of the men on the main deck. I was to stay hidden in the box until he comes down and patrols again.

As he left, I was in deep thought. I was to cross over the enemy’s waters. How intriguing.

The ship sailed for four more hours. I wished that my cousin would come. I was bored. I wanted someone to talk to. I wanted to enjoy my only rebellious day. And I wanted to ask him if we were over South Korea yet.

Then it happened. The event that would change my life forever. I heard the sound of something breaking, and the rest happened too fast for me to take in. I was in the cargo deck, the bottom deck, and so the water surged in. I thought I would die as I stood there watching the water fill the deck, until I finally decided to act. I began to run.

Seconds later, the water caught up with me. I was completely submerged in the water. It wasn’t the water that bothered me at that point, it was the temperature, I suddenly felt my body heat escape my body as I was submerged in the frigid ocean water.

I froze. I was going to die. Then I felt someone pull me. I think it was my cousin, but I was unconscious so I cannot be sure. All I felt after that was being thrown onto a platform floating on the sea.

I remember when I regained my consciousness. I was in a raft-like box thing, one of the storage boxes, I presume. There was water inside that raft. Although the water was freezing, my body had accustomed to it.

I could not think at that point in time. I did not think about my cousin, or my family or what would happen to me next. I just remained the way I was, expecting death to come at any moment.

It didn’t come.

What came was an island. The waves brought me towards it. I remember gathering the energy to get out of my box, and I remember how cold I felt then. I collapsed on the shore. There was no civilization, it seemed, as no one came to help me.

When I next regained consciousness, I would see the person that found me lying on that shore.

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