Morning came and Ken woke up in his hidden bower. Keeping his eyes closed, he heard the sweet sound of chirping.
He slightly opened his eyes and saw the sun shining in the sky. Feeling lazy, he looked down at the ground and thought, 'today I will be free of this horrible place..'
Then his face made a firm expression, and he mumbled.
" oh! It's such a beautiful place, but too deadly for me. I have to move on…. it's a long way to go"
Ken climbed down the tree and settled his hair by running his fingers through it and walked toward the river.
The sun was shining in the sky, a cool breeze touched his hair, it's a very pleasurable moment for him. He was a nature lover, this is the reason he felt happy in the woods.
Ken walked along the long path to the river, even though he didn't have any idea whether this path would take him to the right place or not.
He started running faster and faster. After covering a long distance, he sensed something was wrong.
He felt an awkward silence. There was no animal around. Wondering why there were no animal sounds, Ken passed through a stretch of path in which leaves were falling to the ground in large numbers, but he didn't notice because he kept his focus on sprinting.
As his foot reached the center of this trap. A net suddenly covered him. Trapped! Left him dangling from a tree.
The trap was made from netting and was cleverly hidden under some leaves. Hunters use these types of traps to trap different animals.
'What is this? It's a trap. Damn! I have to get out of here silently '
He tried to escape, but all his attempts were in vain. He thought of the knife he took from Stephen's bag.
Ken took it out of his pocket and started cutting this net. Its ropes were thick and strong but after a continuous struggle of 15 minutes, he finally succeeded.
After he got free, Ken started running again and then after a while, he heard splashing water.
Realizing that he was near the sea, his speed increased, and he ran with passion.
Ken ran unevenly without noticing his way of running. Soon because of this, he sprained his foot. Not paying attention to it, he kept looking at the sea.
He wanted to get there as fast as he could.
Even though tired after facing all these troubles, he wanted to get himself out of this place in any way.
He was exhausted and near to collapse. Frightened by the people chasing him, he doesn't want to be caught after coming so close to freedom.
After covering some distance, the sound of water splashing against rocks became clearer. He passed many trees quickly and ran furiously toward the noise.
Every minute, the sound became louder and intense. After running for a short distance further, he got a glimpse of seawater. Finally, after crossing a thick bush, he felt a huge, cold wave of air on his face.
The never-ending vastness of the open ocean was in front of him. Dancing waves and water splashing sound was music to his ears.
He felt thrilled to see this beautiful scene. His eyes popped open and his lips smiled widely. 'I reached it, finally,' he exclaimed with joy while looking at the sea with sparkling eyes.
Ken ran toward the sea and dipped his hands in that clear water. "It's cold".
It was vast and furious, waves crashing into the infinity. The sea was very turbulent and foggy because of the cold weather. He doesn't even know where he is.
In his joy, he almost missed a ship which was traversing the coastline nearby.
Ken saw that ship. Its noisy and overreacting crowd showed the ship was ready to sail. He thought he might have a better chance of leaving this place if he traveled with them.
Ken started running toward this ship. He ran with all his might because he didn't want them to leave him behind. He ran faster and faster.
"Oh! Oh! Where are you going, man?". A black-skinned man asked him.
" I am.....! I want to join you. I want to go from here." Ken tried to convince him nicely, but his words were stumbling.
The man in front of him was tall, dark-skinned, with a colorful band on his head. He wore a dirty white and stained undershirt with loose blue trousers.
His eyes were black, and he looked like a fisherman as he held a fishnet in his hand.
"And why should we take you with us?" the black man asked, as he was trying to find Ken's origin while also wanting some benefits for himself too.
"I want to leave this place, that's all. If you want money, I will give you some." Ken tried to persuade him by showing him some coins.
"I will take money in advance, my little boy," the black man asked him for money.
" Take it." Ken thrust nearly 10 coins in his hand.
"Where is this ship going?" Ken asked worriedly.
"This ship is going to Pura Shington. Follow me and try not to disturb others." He told Ken in a bossy voice.
"Ok," Ken replied in a confused manner, as he saw the address Stephen gave to him. It was Nastein, where he had to go.
'I have to leave this place first. After getting out of all this shit, I will travel toward Nastein.' Ken thought as he was thinking about Stephen's granddaughter.
When he looked at this ship, he was amazed by seeing that big ship. It was a big ship with a dark blue hull and a huge gun port and heavy chains. There was a statue of a mermaid for a figurehead. A big keel of brown color looked very strong, along with a very long bowsprit was seen with a jibboom.
When Ken walked toward its backside, he saw a rudder partially submerged in the sea and on one side, the captain's cabin that was painted white.
A fat man with a bulky belly walked down through the ship. He wore a white shirt with a vest that handled his fat belly and tight pants of black color, along with a narrow strip of cloth that was around his neck and tucked down the front of the vest.
He stared at Ken for a moment and asked with a smile on his face.
" Have you seen this type of ship before?".
"No sir, I have not. But it's a huge and beautiful ship.". Ken replied in an anxious mood. Ken looked lost in his thoughts. His face was pale, and he looked very weak.
"What's your name, confused boy?" The fat man asked funnily.
" No, I am not confused, I am just worried" Ken revealed his feelings in front of him with tired eyes.
"Keep it in your mind, The cure for anything is saltwater. Sweat, tears, or the sea". The Fat man told him, revealing some of his passion.
"Yes, sir! I will keep it in my mind." Ken replied with a smile. This dialogue of a fat man motivated him. He started following this man and helped him in lifting some heavy bags.
They took these heavy bags inside the ship and sat on a bench. Ken looked around and saw a lot of men were working on that ship. Some of them were cleaning, and some were managing luggage.
All of them were huge and seemed powerful and strong because of their body features. They wore the same white shirts and colored clothes on their heads.
They also wore black pants. They all looked furious and aggressive with their way of talking to each other. He saw a shroud made up of strong thick ropes hanging with a wooden bar on this ship.
When he touched it, he felt these ropes were the same as he cut while escaping out of that trap.
Ken saw a quarterdeck and mainmast, which were long in size. He saw some workers on the foremast and mizzen as well. He felt very happy to start a new life.
After this journey, he can start a family, find a normal job and chill with people of his age. He stood near the bow of the ship and breathed in that cold and clean air. He took deep breaths and felt fresh after all this trouble." Finally, I am going to be free and ready to start a new chapter."
Ken looked toward the never-ending sea. He is a nature lover, so he enjoyed that evening.
The sun was setting in the east. Orange and red rays from the sun-filled clouds with different colors. Beneath the clouds, the sea was flowing in its blue and green mixed shades. Ken enjoyed that moment.
In a loud voice, the captain of the ship ordered, " Finish all your work, we are going to start our journey! Handle the ropes, fasten them with your muscular arms and let the ship dance on the waves."
He was a tall handsome man with a dark color and a big blue hat on his head with a golden brooch of a dolphin in its center, enhancing the looks of the captain.
The captain wore a white shirt with blue paint and a blue coat. His hairs were braided, and he had wide white eyes.
Everyone started running here and there and they hurried because it's time to sail the ship. Everyone was running to their work. He was watching all these scenes. They were very hardworking. Some of them opened tied ropes and let big white sails float in the air. In this way, everyone was super busy managing the start of the journey.
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