The Final Escape

hy me? Why do I have to leave my own home? Is it not my unalienable birthright to be able to live in my own homeland if I choose to? Unfortunately, this is not the case for thousands of the Southern Vietnamese people, after the North Vietnamese has taken over South Vietnam in 1975. These thousands and thousands of people gave up everything, or at least attempted to take what they could with them. Then, in the middle of the night, they tried to sneak out of their homeland, like thieves sneaking out of someone else's home after having spent the night there. This was the feeling that people like my family and I felt when we left Vietnam.

Imagine, you being a 7-year-old child, as I was back then, who had to leave your own home, family, relatives, and friends, just to endure much greater hardship in your wild quest for freedom. For a child to leave everything he had ever known and come to love, just to be thrown out into the sea like a useless toy. This is the kind of horrific experiences that a child or any other person often faces when he or she is left with no choice but to flee from his/her own Motherland because of the unbearable living conditions that exist in his/her country. If it is so horrific, then how did I survive it? Hope! Hope had helped me to stand up every time I was knocked down in near death situations. Hope kept my foundation strong when I was caught in the middle of two hurricanes. It likewise, also kept me steadfast when pirates attacked my boat, three times in less than a week. Hope, again, helped preserved my life for the 21 days that I was floating on the cold and stormy Pacific Ocean.

It all started with secret meetings and whispers flying from one house to another at night. The word was that my dad's next "trip out of town" was going to take place soon, very soon! I didn't know what the "trip" really meant until one very late cold night. Not knowing where I was going or what I was doing, I found my two older sisters and I following my dad's footsteps, in the middle of the night, in and out of bushes, and behind trees and buildings. Even though my feet were gathering more and more mud, thorns, and sands as I continued walking through my village's gate and into another village, I did not burst out any cry, as a child of my age would usually do when suffering pain. Half asleep, I thought this was just a dream and nothing more.

However, as I approached the gate of the city, Vung Tau, my dad warned my sisters and I that when the Viet Cong ask why we were here, and why we were carrying so many luggage, we should say that, "We're visiting our uncle, and that we're from a far away village." By then, I knew why I was awakened in the middle of the night and why my Dad, sisters and I were walking like thieves through the night. We were going to escape Vietnam. As my realization came to an end, one of the two Viet Congs who were guarding the city's gate came up to us and asked us the same questions that my dad had predicted. Still half asleep, my sisters and I answered as my dad had instructed us, and the two Viet Cong who were guarding the gate allowed us to enter the city, but only with suspicious eyes.

After we had walked a distance into the city, my dad led us into a house belonging to "a friend" of his. The residents of the house took us in cautiously, fed us, and then escorted us to another house. My father told us to go with our guide, and assured us that everything would be all right as he left us with another man. Afterward, the guide took us into a house by the shore. At this place, because there was no electricity and the only source of light was the half blue moon shining right on top of us, it was a challenge to find our ways as the guide led us into an underground hideout. This underground hideout being underneath a house, was pitch black, and in which, we found ourselves packed in among twenty to thirty people, all swished together like a herd of swine being packed into a small enclosure.

"Stay quiet!" We were ordered.

Cold, hungry, and afraid, my sisters and I held each other and prayed. Just then, a man bursted into the entrance of the underground hideout and said, "Let's go! Everything is set!" At that moment, everyone rushed out onto the shore to catch one of the first boats to the "Mother" boat, which was waiting silently out in the open ocean. Once everyone was aboard, the Motherboat pulled up her anchor and set out to the open sea, filled with the hope that she would reach her destination safely.

Unexpectedly, after the third day of plowing the sea, the boat broke many of her passengers' hearts when she broke down. Furthermore, when the Motherboat broke "her heart"--the engine, most of the passengers felt heart-broken and hopeless. For, without the engine, the ship would not have the power to lead them to their "promise land." To add to the problem already existed, there were many hostile discussions of whether or not they should turn back to the coast of Vietnam and surrender. At the end, however, we decided that without any tools to fix the engine, we had no choice but to drift along with the currents of the ocean. For, if we were to return to our country, we would surely be captured and imprisoned, if not electrocuted. This was one of the many forms of tortures that the communists could and would inflict upon us, to make us examples for the rest of the other citizens of South Vietnam who are wanting to flee the country.

Therefore, we pushed onward, knowing that everything were now in the Hands of God. We prayed for God's help. Instantly, we spotted a ship from afar, and which was heading towards us. Believing that our prayer had been answered, we gave thanks to the Lord. Then, the captain told everyone to lie down on the deck and act like we're dying, so that the other ship could save us out of pity. For we knew that even when God sent someone to help us, it was still that person's choice if he wanted to help us or not.

As the ship got closer and closer, one of the passengers, who, whether out of impatient or excitement, decided to look up to see if that ship was close yet. What he saw stunned him and left him in awe with his dried and chapped mouth wide opened, and with a look of a person who had been broken-hearted. Curious of what could possibly transformed this man, who for a moment ago was full of hope and excitement, into a man who seemed to have lost his soul, everyone raised their heads to see what happened. "Pirates!" People screamed out. The men frantically searched the boat for any kind of weapon they could possibly use to defend their lives. By the time the men who were searching the boat for weapons came back from the deck below empty handed, it was too late.

The pirates, who had already aimed their giant cannons at us, and had some of their men armed with giant swords, already onboard of our ship, caught our men off-guard when they returned from the deck below. Confronted with these unbeatable opponents, they surrendered. Miraculously, the pirates saw another boat coming and only swept our boat and bodies clean of our material possessions and left without inflicting any real physical harm on us.

Was this the end of our suffering? Not even close! After this incident, twice more were we attacked by other pirates. In addition, we had to take on painful beatings from two hurricanes and suffered three days of starvation. The hardships would have been stacked up much higher still on our weak shoulders if we had given up our faith in God. But, with constant prayers and hope, the capricious ocean finally carried us into the gulf of an island called KuKu, where we were safe from any further near death incidents. So, would our sufferings end here? …. Will our life sufferings ever end?