Escape From Promise Land

“Have a seat right here,” he said, holding her chair for her. No one had ever done that for her before. “I have some questions, and hopefully you can help me out. I know your name, and my name’s Jay Thorn. I’m the captain of this ship and primarily we haul commodities, sometimes to the smaller uncharted islands around the Azores. I’m American, but our port of call is Lisbon, Portugal. Now, tell me a little about yourself, and where you’re from.”

Of course, Cherish was lost the minute he began talking. She had heard about America in school, but had no idea where it was located from Promise Land. She also didn’t know where the place was that he called Lisbon. She was embarrassed to be so uninformed and really didn’t know how to proceed. However, the captain looked to be somewhat interested in what she had to say, so she began anyway.

“I’m from Promise Land, not too far from where your men captured us.” She looked at him, but he didn’t show any type of emotion. “Well, you might as well know, I have no idea where Promise Land is located in the world. No one there does, at least anyone under twenty-five. That’s the way they want it.”

“The way who wants it? And why don’t they want anyone to know?”

“The church elders. They’re the law. They want everyone to concentrate on worshipping God, and not be influenced by the outside world. The only world history we learned was in the church run school, and that wasn’t very much.” She stopped and waited for his response. However, he only stared into her eyes, apparently waiting for her to go on. “Promise Land was like a prison to me and my friends. So we made plans to escape. But, after we had made it over the wall and were heading for the boat, Ezekiel was killed by the wall-guards,” she said, and started to cry.

The captain just sat there, and waited for her to settle down before speaking. “Was Ezekiel your lover?” Cherish looked at him with surprise, and disgust. “I know you’ve had a lover. The doctor told me.” Cherish was shocked, she hadn’t told the doctor anything. “He said you’re not a virgin. But, that’s nothing to cry about.”

“I loved him,” she said, her eyes welling up.

“I see. I’m sorry. Please go on with your story.”

Cherish soon stopped crying and went on. “I’d better start at the beginning if you’re to understand any of this. You see, Daniel.” She paused for a moment. “He’s Ezekiel’s brother. He only found out a few days before we left for the wall that Promise Land was actually an island. We had always thought it was on the edge of some big country, and the other world was just over on the other side of the mountains.”

The captain looked somewhat confused. “You see, there’s these large mountains that run all along the one side of the island and then run right into the ocean on each end of Promise Land,” Cherish said.

He sat there with a strange look on his face. “I understand. Go on.”

Cherish went on to explain about life in Promise Land. She told about the stringent religious beliefs and the elders taking teenage girls and shipping them to the other parts of Promise Land to marry older men.

Then there were the troublemakers, anyone who rebelled against the laws of Promise Land, who sometimes disappeared and were never heard from again. However, the one thing she didn’t tell him was that she had also been chosen, and had then married Peter Foster.