Read Online A Thousand Miles to Freedom by Eunsun Kim - Free Book Online
Authors: Eunsun Kim
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Chinese side? My heart pounding, I started moving faster. Suddenly, I lost my balance. I fell several times while crossing over this slab of ice. As a result, we started walking more slowly, at a turtleâs pace, much slower than we had planned. The light of dawn was already starting to surface. We had to hurry. Just a few more meters to go. I caught up to everyone else, and thought that we were safe.
In reality, we were merely on a small islet on the river. We still had to cross several meters on the other side of the river, where the ice looked less solid.
From there, we rearranged our order. The little girl, the lightest, was to start, with me behind her. Timidly, she approached the other side. Suddenly, we heard a huge cracking sound. The young girl had just sunk through the ice right before our eyes. We started panicking and began to head back to the islet. Her legs were submerged up to her knees. She started screaming.
âHave you reached the bottom?â asked her father.
âYes,â she responded in a frightened voice.
So despite the cold, we started wading through the icy water that burned our skin. We moved forward ⦠just a few more meters, and my feet touched China.
We had finally made it.
I stopped to catch my breath, but my wet clothes had already started to freeze.
We took a few moments of rest, but soon fear overtook us again. We had to get as far away from the river as we could, because if the Chinese police found us, they would send us right back to North Korea. I didnât even want to think about the terrible punishments we would receive back in North Korea if we were caught. We didnât have a minute to lose. Before us, there were fields of corn stretching as far as the eye could see. We had to pass through these fields as quickly as we could to reach the hills in the forest. But my leg was stiff from the cold and I couldnât run. Using all the strength I had left in me, I tried to follow my momâs pace. The hills felt so far away. Finally, after about ten minutes, we made it. I collapsed beneath the trees as the sky began to get light. The sun was shining. It was my first morning outside of my home country.
The first dawn of my new life.
*Â Â Â *Â Â Â *
How would the Chinese treat us? I didnât know anything about this country. Hidden behind the trees, I observed the landscape. On the road below, I noticed some men and women on bicycles. They were most likely off to work. This was the first time Iâd ever seen Chinese people. On the other side of the road, there were little houses with gardens. This seemed to confirm what our neighbors had told us: China was a rich country. In North Korea, it was rare to own a house, because people usually lived in apartment buildings. I found this new world both strange and fascinating. As a child, I never would have believed that one day I would leave my country behind.
All of a sudden, a man on a bicycle appeared in front of us. He motioned for us to come closer and said something in a language that I couldnât understand. We started panicking. Would he denounce us to the authorities? Immediately, we took off and headed toward the forest without knowing where we were going. Our only objective was to get as far away as possible from the border. After running for quite some time, we were surrounded by silence. We were in the middle of nowhere. I was terribly cold in my frozen-solid clothes. So we stopped right there. The man who had escaped across the river with us made a small fire. I collapsed from exhaustion near the campfire. The heat from the flame felt heavenly. After such a tumultuous night, it was a blessing to finally be able to sleep.
That afternoon, we woke and began walking again, still without knowing where we were going. Our priority was to find something to eat. We were gripped by hunger. As night fell again, we had still not found anything with which to fill our stomachs. We had come to
In reality, we were merely on a small islet on the river. We still had to cross several meters on the other side of the river, where the ice looked less solid.
From there, we rearranged our order. The little girl, the lightest, was to start, with me behind her. Timidly, she approached the other side. Suddenly, we heard a huge cracking sound. The young girl had just sunk through the ice right before our eyes. We started panicking and began to head back to the islet. Her legs were submerged up to her knees. She started screaming.
âHave you reached the bottom?â asked her father.
âYes,â she responded in a frightened voice.
So despite the cold, we started wading through the icy water that burned our skin. We moved forward ⦠just a few more meters, and my feet touched China.
We had finally made it.
I stopped to catch my breath, but my wet clothes had already started to freeze.
We took a few moments of rest, but soon fear overtook us again. We had to get as far away from the river as we could, because if the Chinese police found us, they would send us right back to North Korea. I didnât even want to think about the terrible punishments we would receive back in North Korea if we were caught. We didnât have a minute to lose. Before us, there were fields of corn stretching as far as the eye could see. We had to pass through these fields as quickly as we could to reach the hills in the forest. But my leg was stiff from the cold and I couldnât run. Using all the strength I had left in me, I tried to follow my momâs pace. The hills felt so far away. Finally, after about ten minutes, we made it. I collapsed beneath the trees as the sky began to get light. The sun was shining. It was my first morning outside of my home country.
The first dawn of my new life.
*Â Â Â *Â Â Â *
How would the Chinese treat us? I didnât know anything about this country. Hidden behind the trees, I observed the landscape. On the road below, I noticed some men and women on bicycles. They were most likely off to work. This was the first time Iâd ever seen Chinese people. On the other side of the road, there were little houses with gardens. This seemed to confirm what our neighbors had told us: China was a rich country. In North Korea, it was rare to own a house, because people usually lived in apartment buildings. I found this new world both strange and fascinating. As a child, I never would have believed that one day I would leave my country behind.
All of a sudden, a man on a bicycle appeared in front of us. He motioned for us to come closer and said something in a language that I couldnât understand. We started panicking. Would he denounce us to the authorities? Immediately, we took off and headed toward the forest without knowing where we were going. Our only objective was to get as far away as possible from the border. After running for quite some time, we were surrounded by silence. We were in the middle of nowhere. I was terribly cold in my frozen-solid clothes. So we stopped right there. The man who had escaped across the river with us made a small fire. I collapsed from exhaustion near the campfire. The heat from the flame felt heavenly. After such a tumultuous night, it was a blessing to finally be able to sleep.
That afternoon, we woke and began walking again, still without knowing where we were going. Our priority was to find something to eat. We were gripped by hunger. As night fell again, we had still not found anything with which to fill our stomachs. We had come to
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