Freedom Flight

Source: Children Come First
http://www.childrencomefirst.com/freedom.shtml

Contests
Freedom Flight
By Olgy Gary, Contest #200712

It was a miracle and there was no other way to explain it. After years of waiting we received permission to leave.

My parents had lost their jobs and our ration cards were taken away when they informed the police that we wanted to leave the country. From then on we had to buy food and goods on the black market and were labeled gusanos, worms, and enemies of the state.

Three dresses and a pair of shoes for each of us was all we were allowed to take. We arrived in Havana, scheduled to leave Cuba the following day, only to learn that our flight had been cancelled.

With nowhere to go, we prayed, and God answered. A government official, who used to be a family friend, managed to get us on a flight out of Cuba within the week.

My family left Cuba, the island of our hearts, on a flight towards freedom. We held our breath as the plane took off, afraid we could be called back. When the plane landed in the Bahamas, shouts of jubilation and applause filled the air. Freedom was ours! We were on our way to America, the land of the free.

Olgy Gary is an author, game designer, editor, ghostwriter, and consultant from Colorado Springs, Colorado. Her cross-cultural simulations, The Luna and Kampei Games, have been extensively used by trainers worldwide. She is originally from Cuba and holds an M.A. in Instructional Design, with an emphasis on experience-based learning resources and cross-cultural communication. The story, Freedom Flight, is adapted from her forthcoming middle grade novel, "Island Of My Heart."