ETERNAL FREEDOM
	The time to escape did come! He had  been waiting for it for several months. Taking advantage of 
the careless of the guards, he dipped himself in water while the prisoners were passing across the stream to 
go back to the camp after an exhausting working day in the field. The first part of his plan went exactly as 
desired.
	Being sure they went far enough, he quickly jumped out of the stream and headed for the woods. 
He knew there was a highway nearby so that he could hitch-hike to go to the coast where he could easily 
find a boat and escape farther.
	It was almost midnight. He had been going about five miles, but found nothing. The cold night 
wind touched him, increasing his nervousness. He looked back again to make sure that nobody followed 
him.
	In a nearby small village flickered some candle lights. Cautiously, he went around the village, 
trying not to make any noises. Suddenly, a farmer's dog sensed him from a distance and began to bark, then 
followed the other dogs in the village. He was very upset but could do nothing. Some farmers came out of 
their houses to see what happened. Seeing nothing, they spoke harshly to their dogs, then returned to their 
houses. He signed a deep sign of relief and carefully went away.
	By dawn he still did not see the highway. He felt a little paniced. However, as inhaling the fresh 
air, listening to the birds, looking up the broad blue sky, he felt more comfortable. Freedom was really 
precious! There was a stream nearby. He wanted to take a bath. Being a son of a fisherman, he had swum 
very well since he was a kid. Fresh water reminded him of the days he had lived with his lovely wife and 
son in a fishing village on the coast of Yellow Sea. Because he was a patriotic Manchurian who had 
protested the assimilation of the Japanese on his people, the Japanese put him in jail. He  had left his wife 
and son in his home village. Thinking of the day he could re-unite them, he smiled a happy smile.
	Suddenly, his thoughts were cut off by a lot of barking noises of dogs. The noises came closer and 
closer. Like a machine, he hurrily went ashore. He realized that the noises were certainly from the search 
party, and that he might be caught again easily. It was too late! In the distance appeared some yellow 
uniforms of the Japanese soldiers. He changed his mind and decided to swim offshore.   
	"Freeze!" shouted one of the soldiers. The escaped prisoner did not want to stop swimming. He 
did not want to be captured again. A volley of bullets sounded in the sky. He still swam and swam. This 
time, a strange feeling suddenly came to him. He felt that his limbs were benumbed with something which 
he did not know. Then, at that moment, he suddenly saw his lovely pictures of his life- his wife, his son, his 
parents, and his beloved fishing village. All of them displayed and disappeared in a very short moment.
	Then he really felt free.