Color Story- Road to Freedom

After years of living in the dark, a blue sky was a foreign concept. I felt as if it was something I’d only seen in a dream; and for a few minutes, my grasp on reality seemed to falter. I looked down at my hands that were shaking, and saw my unhealthily defined veins and the paleness of my skin. I had no mirror, but from the looks of my comrades, I probably wouldn’t have looked at it anyway. Many were in tears. I couldn’t tell if they were for the horrors we’d just been through, or the freedom we’d just won. If we were going to survive the next step of our journey, we need to find a water source and food to eat. Most of us were severally underfed, and were too weak to move much more. Scouts were sent ahead, and returned midday with word of a river just a few miles ahead. I was surprised at how well I was keeping my head, and how I hadn’t fallen apart yet, but these people needed me and needed me to stay calm.

I watched as the river cleansed our bodies of brown and we became clean again. We washed the grime from under our fingernails, and the dirt from our clothes. The floors of our sells had been nothing but packed earth and rocks, very uncomfortable. I cringed at the memory. We were dressed in rags, and could be easily distinguished as escaped prisoners; but there was nothing we could do about that right now. The sun began to set and soon it would be dark. I gathered wood for fire and brush for everyone to sleep on, and to provide us with some cover. For now, we would have to rest and dream about where we were headed.

We awoke to a vibrant yellow sunrise. To me, it signified hope and the brightness of our future. The past was behind us and we would be moving forward with a new determination and drive. As we walked down the lone, forgotten road, we past a sea of weeping lilies. This beauty had been long forgotten, and we felt like children again. When night came, we followed the North Star, which lead us to people like us. From then on, we travel in a larger more unified group. We picked up stragglers, and more joined our journey. We trudged through deserts, and sand filled our shoes. We sat through storms, which soaked our clothes. But we were together. No man was left behind.

When we saw the red gates, we knew we’d been saved, our kingdom come. We’d come home. I walked up the brick road to my old hut. It had been years since I’d seen it, but it looked the same. Dust had collected on the mahogany furniture and clock had stopped ticking, but it didn’t matter. I lit a fire, and returned to my books and my sofa chair. Peace had crept its way back into my heart.