Bian's Secret

Bian had a secret, and she couldn't tell anyone, or someone would interfere. She couldn’t trust her mother or siblings. Her best girlfriend was way out of the question, as was the village priest. Anyone she told would somehow inform her Papa what her plans were so that she couldn’t risk being stopped by him.

Oh, she knew what she planned was dangerous. She knew no sane person with options would attempt to do what she was about to do. But she was out of options, which drove her to try ridiculous ideas. So she made her plans privately, hoping no one would figure out what she was about to do.

She just knew she would do anything to get out of the arranged marriage that Papa had set up for her. The man her Papa picked out was a good 15 years older than her, and he was short and fat. Bian couldn’t marry him. So she made her plans.

Exactly one week before the wedding, she put her plan into motion. She filled up a pack with a couple of changes of clothes, her jewels, and what money she had saved up. Putting the bag on her back, she slipped out the back door. She traveled on foot to the town across the river, where she had arranged transportation to Saigon.

Arriving in the port city, she quickly made her way to the shipping docks. Once she found the docks, she arranged for transportation on the first ship leaving the area. The captain and his first mate never asked her why she was leaving her homeland; they just took her money and assigned her a cabin to herself.

Soon after she boarded the ship, it sat sail. Going out on the deck, she watched her homeland disappear on the horizon. She felt such mixed emotions, leaving everything she knew behind. But most of all, she felt a huge relief. She was relieved knowing that where she was going, no one would ever force her to marry someone that she did not want to marry.

After she could no longer see the shores of her old homeland, she decided to head back to her cabin. In her cabin, she prepared for her new life, freedom, in the United States.