The Escape

Until this day, I have not forgotten a moment of my experience in Shanghai. It was 1949, and as bombs rained down, the Communists took Ma and me away in their big truck. We were driven to a prison camp, where hundreds of tents stood on filth-covered ground. Given only a small ration of rice, turnips, disgusting pork fat, and a little water each day, we struggled to survive.

For weeks, the same thought filled my brain. We need to escape. We need to find Pa. I remembered the last words he had spoken before joining the army: “I will come back soon.”

Two months passed. The battles were still fierce, but they had quieted down lately. An idea popped into my head while I was drifting off: What if a spy had been planted at this camp? If I observed carefully, perhaps I could find a guard who might be willing to help us.

After watching for five months, I found a guard who secretly helped some of the prisoners when he could.

One day he whispered to me, “I’ve seen you looking at me multiple times. What do you need?”

“A safe spot to hide and a map of an escape route.”

“Come to the gate at midnight.”

Hoping this was my chance to escape, I tiptoed across the ground to the iron gate. There stood the head guard. Quickly passing me a small package, he strode away whispering, “Good luck.”

I couldn’t sleep that night. Instead, I opened the package, which contained some food and a map. I went over the instructions many times with Ma.

We sneaked to the side gate at midnight, which was held open by the head guard. Then we went west through tunnels and trees, and north through abandoned streets. At dawn, we reached a small country town. We met new neighbors who were willing to help and had a home built in no time.

After the war, Pa wandered to the town where we now live. Ma and I brought Pa home, and we were joyful to be a family again.