Prologue

[Twenty years ago]

The container is small, dark and humid. Unbearable because of the thirty people or so struggling to share oxygen in it. His shirt is wet with sweat and tears and the distinct smell of death that swirls inside the enclosed room make his stomach revolts.

“Wa... water...” His mom calls from her spot by his feet and he instantly s in the dark for her hand. He holds it tight, imagining her pulse under the cold and wrinkly skin while hoping that the pulse will stay there forever.

“Wa.... ter.... please...” The words are clearly forced out of . Her raspy voice and weak movement telling him he has to find the water fast.

“Wait here, mom.” He chokes back tears. “I will find water.”

He s on the floor again, moving forward slowly. There aren't many source of light. Just a few inches slit above the locked door of the container which also serves as the main source of air. He tries to be extra careful not to touch anybody, afraid that his hand will make contact with the source of the stench. He tries to think of anything else but the fact that there might be dead bodies around him.

“Can anybody give me water please?” His voice comes out croaking. He hasn't tasted any water since yesterday too. Bottles of water has been distributed before they got into the container at the harbor, but his supply has all been gone because his mother is sick and keeps on feeling thirsty.

No one answers him. Water is a treasure in this hell trip across the ocean. While he knows that the ship is sorrounded by sea, he also knows that finding a drop of drinking water in this container will be a sheer miracle. The trip is longer than expected. Everyone is thirsty and exhausted in this scorching box now.

“Please... give my mom water.” He begs now, with all his tears that have started to flow again. His mother is all he has in this cruel world. There's no point of surviving this journey without her.

“There's no water, son.” Someone also croaked from one of the corner. A man. He wonders if his father will sound like the stranger since the boy can't remember how his old man's voice like. “Tell your mother to hold on. We'll be there in a few hours.”

There? Where's this “there” actually? The man that made him and his mother climb into the container promised them a safe place. Somewhere they can get money easily. The man told his mother that she can work there, with routine paycheck that will be enough for her to live a happy life and to send her son to school.

“Please...” He cries hard now. “My mother...” He knows her mother won't survive a few more hours without drinking water.

Then the ship suddenly sways to the left. Wave crashes out there but he can hear something else clearly. A glass bottle is tumbling down in the container.

A glass bottle of water.

He s frantically. The source of the sound is close to his left and the weak ray of light make him able to see a little water in the green bottle. His mother will be saved!

He throws his body forward, reaching with all his might. But a pair of hands beat him to the bottle.

“Please, give me a little water. It's for my mother.”

“There's no water!”

He can't see the person who's holding the bottle but he can tell that the person sounds like a kid too. A young girl.

“There is water in the bottle. Please, my mom...”

“Sssssh.” The kid yanks him forward by the arm. “Don't be too loud. People will try to take the water away.”

“Please, give me. ” He whispers. The stench is stronger in this corner of the box but he cares for the water more.  “For my mom.”

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