Flash-Fiction

Escaped

Escape

Good, whatever time it is in your area! My name is Valentine, and I escaped from my country North Korea, for good. I have always wanted to share my experience, but I was scared that people would come after me. But one day, I had enough, I took out my phone and started recording.

I started the video, "Hi, I'm Valentine. I wanted to share something with you guys. I grew up in North Korea. My family was quite affluent, so I didn't need to suffer, as a lot of my classmates had. My family has always told me that I should be grateful, and they have always provided me with opportunities, to become somebody meaningful." I paused. "Even so, I have always wanted to visit the outside world. Whenever I wanted to search for information about other countries, the computer would just say it was blocked. By the time I was 18, my inquisitiveness overwhelmed me. I remember clearly, I went to my room, packed up my belongings, and sneaked all the way to the border. The barbed wire fence between us and China was 500 meters away, I was sneaking over, when someone vociferated, 'Traitor! You dingy little turncoat!' I scrambled; I ran as I have never run before. I could hear more people chasing me now. Once I got to the fence, I clambered it. I scraped my palm on the sharp wire, but I didn't dare stop. Once I got to the top, I jumped down." I couldn't manage to say the next couple of lines without sobbing. "I, I looked back. M-mom and dad were there. They, were crying. People from the government were stapling them down on the floor. I froze on the spot. 'Run!' Those were mom's last word, before she was taken away. I turned around and ran. I don't remember anything else really. I just know I got to China, and the government there took pity on me and gave me a job." I stopped the video.

With trembling hands, I opened my computer and posted the video on YouTube. I shut off my computer and went to bed.

The next morning, to my wonder, I received a lot of texts from numbers I don't recognize. I jumped out of bed and headed to my laptop. My video had gone viral overnight. There were comments full of concern. Even though there were pessimistic comments, I didn't care. I started to post more videos. Most were about how we could make an impact, others just talking about how my past has influenced my daily life.

My channel continued to grow over the weeks. One morning, I woke up to a call from YouTube. They invited me to give speeches about my experiences.

Over the next 3 days, I gave lectures, hoping to bring awareness to the world about bringing freedom to the world. I wanted to create an impact, and I accomplished it.

Remember, 'Your voice can make a difference.'