By Miles Rost

The gentleman looked out over the calm waters of the sea, his mind fresh from the experiences of his past. He could see the land he desired so much in the distance, from this very point. He knew that if he went there, he would be hunted down. He wouldn’t be able to see his young wife, his beautiful and sweet siren. Yes, it was best that he stayed away and did his work as he had done for years in the past.

He realized that he would likely never return to his home, not while the general and his minions were searching for him. A political criminal, the gentleman was able to get out of the country before the nets would have closed on him. Had he stayed for even an extra day, he wouldn’t be standing on that vantage point and looking inward. He would have been held in a small cell, solitary, with nothing to keep him alive except his faith and the bread and water he would get once a day. Such is the usual end for an ethical pamphleteer in his home country.

Hearing the horn’s blearing in the background, the gentleman took one last thoughtful look before he would get in the wagon and travel on his way to his temporary home. He was a man without a home country now. His life would be traveling, preaching, and doing all that he wanted to do. One day, he thought, I will go through the fire to get my sweet siren and take her from that place. She can travel with me.

Picture taken at Beopseongmyeon, Jeollanam-do, South Korea