The Road to Freedom: Sarah's Story.

It was a hot summer day, and Sarah was standing in the middle of a muddy clearing. The sun was high, the air still and sticky. She could feel sweat trickling down her neck and into her shirt, soaking into her bra and making it stick to her skin.

Movement caught Sarah’s eye, and she watched as a tall man strode out of the woods. He had dark hair that fell in waves past his shoulders, and he wore a simple blue tunic with an earth-colored cloak draped over one arm. A sword hung at his left hip; Sarah could see its hilt gleaming dully where the sunlight hit it through the trees.

Sarah’s eyes were drawn to the belt around his waist; it looked like the kind that carried throwing knives. She didn’t want to think about how useful those would be if he decided to attack her.

He smiled when he saw her, then walked up closer. “Sarah?” he asked, holding out a hand. His voice was rich and deep, the kind you heard in church choirs or on radio shows. “I am Lee Imn Suh; I have been sent to train you in self-defense.”

Sarah blinked at him for a moment before taking his hand. “I’m Sarah…” she said slowly.

He nodded encouragingly at her, then gestured to the trees behind them. “Shall we begin?”

Sarah shrugged helplessly, then turned around and followed him into the woods. It was cooler here, shaded from the sun; Sarah let out a breath of relief as she felt her skin cool off instantly under the canopy of leaves.

They walked for quite some time; there were no paths underfoot, just soft moss and pine needles over hard-packed dirt and leaves. The forest grew thicker as they went along; soon they no longer had room between their shoulders and the trunks of trees to walk side by side comfortably — instead they trekked single file down narrow game trails that seemed little more than deer prints pressed into the ground. Eventually they came to a small clearing tangled with debris; fallen branches, dead leaves, even bits of cloth all layered together against a gnarled old oak tree in the center of it all.

Lee turned to face her, smiling again as he drew his sword from its scabbard without warning. Sarah jumped back, startled into action by his sudden movement — but she wasn't fast enough to avoid being cut by his blade as it whistled over her head by less than an inch. She stared wide-eyed at him for a moment before pointing accusingly at him with one hand while rubbing her shoulder with the other — though whether she meant to accuse him of attacking her or of being too close for comfort was unclear even to herself.

Lee held up both hands apologetically — not quite surrendering but not drawing his weapon either — then bowed deeply in apology before turning around to gaze at the log in front of them both with something like reverence in his eyes. "This is my training ground," he said softly, running one finger along its surface with obvious affection before finally looking back at Sarah again with a smile on his face once more. "You're welcome here."

The way he said it made her feel like she really meant something special somehow — like this whole thing was an honor bestowed upon her alone — but that made no sense at all because they'd just met! And besides… "Why are you training me?" she asked quietly after another long silence between them filled only with birdcalls and rustling of leaves overhead in the trees above them. "What do you need skill for?"

Lee regarded her for a long moment before replying simply: "I'm going home."

Sarah blinked at him mutely for several seconds before shaking her head slowly from side to side in disbelief — but Lee didn't clarify things any further for her; instead he set about pulling branches from over on one side of their clearing until he'd created what looked like a low barrier across half of it — long enough that someone would have to duck down quite far if they wanted to pass through underneath it, short enough that most people would have to crouch down if they wanted to get through over top of it instead — and then placed both palms flat against its surface as he pushed it slowly forward until it reached right up next to the trunk of their tree without touching its gnarled bark anywhere along its length! It took so much effort that Sarah could see sweat beading up along his brow despite being so shaded from the sun above them now; she could hear him wheezing heavily as he put all his weight behind that push before dropping down onto one knee afterwards with one hand spread out flat against the ground while he panted shallowly for air after such exertion while his other hand still rested against the barrier itself…