A new life

A short piece inspired by the photo prompt and Salman Rushdie quote at A Prompt Each Day and the given words at Three Word Wednesday which are Dead, Threaten and Hungry

*Between 1788 and 1868, approximately 162,000 convicts were transported from England to Australia by the British government. Many were transported for petty crimes; others were political prisoners. Most stayed in Australia with some rising to prominent positions in Australian society. Approximately 20% of modern Australians are descended from transported convicts.

The Twenty-fifth day of August, in the Year of our Lord Eighteen eighty-three.

I sat shackled to the deck and watched the billowing sails as the wind of change carried me to a new life.  I looked back at the black clouds which could no longer threaten me, for my wretched existence thus far lay dead in the water. I was hungry for a future where the sins and bad deeds of my past would be left behind me. A convict, yes, but a spirit freed.

Regrets? Yes. But I will never forget for my memories will be a constant reminder of what is important to me in the years to come. 

Image:Ship Mary L. Cushing by William G. Yorke  via Wikimedia Commons