A body lay in silence, a breeze swept over it, a chill threaded its way beneath the skin, the body shivered. A breeze again enveloped the body, another reaction erupted… Another breeze blew over, then another, and another. Amid the continuous onslaught, there was a huge gasp for breath. The body sprang to life, screaming and vomiting. A gulp of water gushed from his mouth convulsed from his lungs. Stray trickles dripped down his lips and chin as he fought to catch his breath. Slowly, his agitation faded as his breathing finally calmed. He sat up on the sand he where had lain to behold the vast ocean that lay before him… A surprised look eventually took over his face, but it does not last long… A stoic man he was. As calmly as the unhurried clouds in the vast night sky above him, he said with a sigh, "I am lost."
Daniel, that was his name. This is the story of a man who turned a prison into a fortress.
"Where am I?"
He stood up and scanned his surroundings. This was a land he was not familiar with. It was not a mere alleyway, nor was it an abandoned warehouse, it definitely wasn't the front porch to his home that he had awoken to, it was a beach. From the very soil to the sky above, nothing felt the tiniest bit reminiscent to the bustling city of Legion he was accustomed to.
Indeed, it certainly wasn't the city where cars roamed the streets and every corner was filled with noise. Each turn you would make you would find all sorts of people walking about. From the well abled who would be on their way to work to kids wandering the streets. Kids of all tiers, from the merry without a care in the world to veteran pickpockets who learned their trade to survive. The streets weren't spared from graffiti, smothered across the cryptic walls of the thick boned houses. The stench of choked gutters and refuse littered about every place you could possibly imagine, it by was by no means an oasis but it was home. A home he had known and adapted to for the past twenty years.
The nature of the situation was not the least bit regular, but he did not fret, for do not forget, he was quite stoic a young man.
"Why am I not screaming for help? Am I not scared- What am I saying?... Of course I'm scared. I am terrified even. I don't like the fact that I can't seem to remember how I got here, what will I find when I go searching for help? How did I drift to a foreign shore when I reside in a city with no ocean? This makes no sense. Also, behind me lies a great forest… Is this a jungle? I don't understand anything… Or wait, could it be that I am…?"
"Hello?... Hello?... Can you hear me?"
A timid shaky voice interrupts his busied mind and calls out to him. Daniel turns to notice a shadowy figure approach him steadily from the forest gradually making its way into the light.
He wonders, "A stranger? Maybe they can tell me what's going on?"
He stood up ready to clear up all the insanity that was going on, "Hi, please could tell me w-"
"Where am I?" she interrupted.
You heard right and so did he, the person he hoped had answers was just as lost as he was. He remained silent, unsure of what to say.
Finally emerged from the darkness was a scared confused young lady. Now standing upon the glowing sand and bathed in the moonlight, she asked again as if knowing he wanted clarification of her existence, "Can you please tell me where I am?"
A slow sense of dread crept in but he showed no panic and responded, "What do you mean? You came from the forest"
"I- I just woke up there, I made my way out looking for someone to help."
The tiny pieces beginning to connect, Daniel then affirmed his suspicion, on the foreign land, far removed from the norm of his existence, he was being held captive. The shore his cell and the ocean its guard.