Nikolai reached his hand into his pocket and felt the knife. He had worked for weeks on it, slowly grinding down the stone blade day by day. He only had one chance to take out the guard when he reached the perimeter. From there he would have to rush to the lake and assemble the raft he had made out of drop cloths he found lying around the prison camp behind the officer’s quarters.

He thought about his wife when she woke up in the morning. He’d come for her when he could, but for now, his people needed him.

Dec, 2015.