My father says, “Travelling is dangerous. Travelling is not comfortable. You can die.”
I think about it. Travelling is dangerous. It is not comfortable. I can die. But it is also very interesting. I can see new countries. I can meet new people.
I think about travelling every day. Maybe my mother can help me.
I speak with my mother. I tell my mother, “I want to travel. I want to see the world. Please, speak with my father. Maybe with your help, I can travel.”
My mother loves me. But she thinks that travelling is dangerous. She thinks that my place is at home. She thinks that life in England is the best for me.
One year later, I visit one big town. The name of this town is Hull.
I meet my friend. His father has a ship. They travel to London. My friend tel s me, “Go with me.”
I think about it. I am not prepared. But I can try if travelling is for me.
I go to London. I am very happy. It is my first long journey. It is very interesting. The first hour is good. But then we have problems. We see a storm. The storm is big.
The wind is strong. The ship goes up and down. I have fear. I think about my home. I think about my comfortable bed.
The storm is finished in the morning. The weather is nice. And the evening is beautiful. Everything is quiet.
One man comes to me. We speak. We speak about the storm. I speak about my fear. The man gives me a drink. I drink very much. I sleep very well at night.
The next day, I forget about my home. I forget about my comfortable bed. I dream more about travelling.
CHAPTER 2 – STORM
The next day, our ship is slow because the wind is not strong.
Then the wind is strong again. We go fast. A new storm comes. This storm is bigger.
I am scared. The men are scared too. The waves are very big. The waves are like mountains. I see other ships. The ships are like toys. The waves play with the ships. I want to go home again.
The storm is very big. The men ask God for help.
Then, one man sees a hole in the ship. Water is inside. It is a bad situation.
Many men go down. They pump the water out. I am very scared. I can’t move. One man comes to me. He says, “Go down and help.” So I go down. We pump the water out.
I hear a gun. It is a signal from our captain. It is a signal that we have a big problem. Our ship is very broken. Our ship is full of water.
We work very hard. We pump the water out. But the hole is very big. More and more water is inside the ship.
The weather is better. The waves are smaller. But the ship is full of water. We need help. We see another ship before our ship. The men from the ship send a small boat. The men on the boat go to our ship. The men help us. We go on their boat.
Fifteen minutes later, our big ship goes under water. We are safe on the small boat. We see a land. We go to the land.
We see people on the beach. They wait for us. They help us. They give us some money. We can go to London or Hull. I go to London.
When I am in London, I meet a captain. The captain goes to Africa. I think that I can make some money there.
The captain tells me about the business in Africa. He tells me what to buy in England. He tells me what people in Africa need.
The journey to Africa is very good. I have a lot of money after this journey. I am happy. I want to travel more. I want to do more business. I want to learn how to control the ship. The captain teaches me how to control the ship.
I go to Africa again. The journey starts well. But soon we have big problems. We see a ship. It is not an English ship. It is a pirate ship. The pirates want to take our ship. Their ship is fast. Soon, they are near our ship.
The pirates attack us. Many pirates go on our ship. They kill our men. We can’t win. We stop the fight. Now, we are prisoners.
CHAPTER 3 – WOMAN
I am young and strong. I must work as a slave. I work for the captain of the pirates.
I feel very sad. I have a bad life. I must work hard.
I work every day. I work in the house. I work in the garden. The captain tells me what to do.
I don’t like my work. I want to change my situation. I want to be free again.
It is morning. I meet a young woman. She works in the house. She is so beautiful. She is also a slave. She cleans the house.
I speak with her. She doesn’t speak my language. But I feel that she understands me.
