story

Cold and dark. The only words I could find to describe how this place felt. There were certain facts that I was ignorant about when first arriving on this ship. First, that it was carrying convicts from Juno All the way to Texas where they would be put in a much larger jailing facility. The second thing that I was totally clueless about was how long this voyage was going to take. I was thinking one week, tops. But this ship had stopped several times already and now I was starting to loose hope. Sneaking on board was difficult enough, but now, having to stay in hiding, and alive? I had some how managed to sneak down below deck after a few days. I had found a safe place to hide behind some large crates. There was only one cell down there. One cell and person. Why he was all along I am not quite certain. But as I thought of him I felt his gaze upon me. I was sitting on the damp floor behind the crates with my back leaning againd the cold wall. I turned my head slightly and out of the corner of my eye I caught his stare. He was looking at me through the cracks between the crates. I closed my eyes and pulled my knees closer to my chest, hoping that maybe I was just imagining things. And when I opened them again he was standing in front of me. I jumped as he stood before me like a giant.

“How did you…” But before I could finish he cut me off.

“Do us both a favor and don’t ask me that.” He saw that I was shaking, both out of fear and from the frigged air. He took his jacket off and put it around my shoulders. Then sat down next to me and let out a deep sigh.

For a long moment I was not sure what to say, I looked at him waiting for him to dissipear, like something out of a dream. He did not look like a convict, he had shaggy dirty blond hair, green eyes, and was tan and muscular. He didn’t look like he belonged here.

“I’m not going to tell anyone you are here, if that is what you are thinking.”

“Actually,” I say, “that hadn’t even crossed my mind.” I saw a smirk cross hs face.

“Then what? I can see that you are thinking about something.”

“I’m thinking that you don’t really look like a convict. I’m thinking that you don’t belong here, and I’m really wondering how you got out of the cell.” My honesty came from my belief that he wouldn’t hurt me. He seemed kind, at least from what I had seen of him so far………………