Footsteps. The little boy had heard footsteps approaching his bedroom door. You see, it was late at night and the little boy had something that was strictly prohibited in his household. The boy had a book. Once the boy heard the footsteps, he hid the book and pretended to be asleep. The mother opened the door with hostility. She examined the boy and his room carefully, making sure he hadn’t been up and doing something he wasn’t supposed to be doing. You see, in any other household, being in possession of a book would not be something drastic. However, his family was different. His family despised anything new. Anything that had to do with change or things that were unfamiliar to them, they showed extreme amounts of hostility towards. You may find it strange that that is the case, but the family finds comfort in consistency.
After the mother left, he reached under his bed for the book he had just hidden and gazed upon the images with it until he had fallen asleep. The book he had been examining was actually an old journal that he had discovered hidden within his home. The journal was written by an explorer and within it were documentations of several different things the explorer had encountered. Such things included sceneries, wildlife, and plantlife/vegetation. The documentations had pages of literature describing each thing he encountered. Alongside the descriptions were illustrations presumably created by the explorer. Since the boy couldn’t read, all he could do was gaze upon the illustrations. He would stare at the pages wondering what all the strange symbols meant. Besides the contents of the book, it was nothing special. just a leather-bound journal with signs of wear and tear, probably due to the book’s age. Anyways, let us put the description of the book aside and get back to the little boy.
Every morning the boy would be awoken by a rooster and then would receive a list of tasks he would have to do. Every member of the family, including the boy and his siblings, were given their tasks to complete for the day. This list never changed and stayed the same for every day of the week and every week of the month and every month of the year. The boy’s family liked the fact that they had the same tasks to do every day. They all lived within a plot of land that was big enough to raise cattle and grow enough crops to feed themselves. Each family member, besides the boy, loved this. They never had to leave their home for any reason and loved it that way.
Besides all of this and his parents embracing their close-minded behavior, the boy never felt the same way. He wasn’t a big fan of doing the same thing over and over again, but he didn’t mind it since it was all he’d ever known. The boy never had the desire to see what was beyond his home and never dreamt of leaving. However, this all changed when he stumbled upon the journal. When he laid his eyes on the pages, it was as if something inside of him had awoken. He suddenly had the urge to know more about the strange creatures that were illustrated in the journal. He wanted to know what all the strange symbols meant. The boy knew that from that point forward, all he could think about was leaving.
The boy knew that his parents would never allow him to leave, so he knew he would plan an escape. The boy spent lots of time thoroughly planning how he would not only escape but how he would sustain himself after that. He knew that escaping his home would be the easy part, but surviving would be a lot more challenging. The boy was still at a very young and knew nothing about the outside world, but with youth comes ignorance, so the boy decided not to wait till he was of age.
Once the boy felt that he could no longer learn anything new from his parents and the tasks that were assigned to him. The boy knew that escaping would be relatively easy, since his parents had the same routine every night as they always did, so he knew that when they fell asleep, no-one would be there to stop him. The day of his escape, the boy packed food, water, and other various things, including the journal, and left when the sun went down. The boy had left a note for his family explaining why he was gone when they would eventually wake up. Then he snuck out of the house and was now officially free, able to do whatever he wanted.
The boy began to explore the new area around him and spent weeks sketching and recording things he had seen. The boy also sustained himself by gathering consumable vegetation, drinkable water, and other things he could consume. The boy knew that there were areas where groups of people lived and that he could find someone there to teach him all the things that he didn’t know about. The boy grew tired in his search and was so exhausted he ended up fainting.
The next thing the boy knew he was lying down while a man was preparing food by a campfire. The man explained that he had found him on the ground and decided to help the boy. The boy thanked him for his help and asked him how he found him. The man explained to the boy that he was an explorer and that it was by chance that he stumbled upon him. The boy lit up with excitement and asked if the man was educated, asked him if he understood the symbols in the journal he had.
The boy handed the journal over and sure enough, the mand understood the symbols that were foreign to the boy. The boy then asked the man if he would be willing to take him under his wing and teach him how to read and write. The man was unsure at first but was the same passion in the boy’s eyes that he had when he was young. So after that, the man agreed. After that, the man taught the boy many different things that he would have never learned if he would’ve stayed home with his parents. The boy is planning on eventually returning back to his family and explain to them all the things he’s learned, but for now, he’s learning about all the things the world has got to offer and he’ll continue learning to the day he passes.

Side Note: (Sketch of tree goes with the story)