I used to be able to run, to hide, to be free. I realized that it’s not possible anymore. I will never be able to look out at the sunset without suspicious eyes watching. I won’t be able to go to my friend’s house without being followed and be asked the same exact question every time. “What are you exactly doing here?” The worst part about the wall dividing everyone is the fact that for the rest of my life, I can’t see them ever again. It is 1964, Berlin, Germany. 3 year since the wall was built. I was sleeping over at my friend’s house the night they built the wall. One day there’s nothing, the next day we’re divided. My family and I lived the other side of Berlin. For three years we have been divided. And I’m sick of it. I need to escape.

“Forest! Breakfast!” Yelled my friend Charlotte’s mother. For the past three years, her family was kind enough to let me live with them. They were family friends, so it felt right. For the past few months, I had been starting to dig an underground tunnel that went under the wall.I started it because I wanted to reunite with my family. I knew it was a huge risk. Putting my life on the line like that, but I needed to do it. It felt correct to me. I was walking one day from school, when I saw an old broken down house in an alleyway. The old structure curiously was close to the wall. I inspected it, finding old rusted shovels, wheelbarrows, and gloves. Instantly, an idea struck me like a lighting bolt. I started digging. I started with a small hole, it grew from the size of a bucket, to the width of a barrel. I told Charlotte when I was halfway done. She cried that night but didn’t tell her parent. She agreed that it was the right decision, and supported it. Thought it was tough for her.

As I ate my breakfast I thought about how I might be able to escape today. I only needed to dig up soil a little bit more. After I ate I headed toward the alley. But instead I saw one more thing. Something that didn’t belong there. A guard. His facial features looked incredibly familiar. As if we’ve known each other before. When we made eye contact he let out a little gasp. “Forest.” I stood there in shock, how did this guard know my name. Specifically my name? But then I recognized the voice. It sounded like a nineteen year old’s voice. A certain nineteen year old. “George?” I said hopefully. He took off his mask. His emerald green eyes shining brightly as he opened his arms and wrapped me in a a bear like hug. My older brother was actually here. But what about mama and papa? I started asking him a lot of questions as he did to.

It turns out that he had dug a tunnel as well, but instead it was closer to the other side of the wall where I was. He said that his friends worked as a guard and let him borrow his uniform for this reason. He said that he was here to bring me home. He had positioned the tunnel near Charlotte’s house, we escaped at exactly 5:15.