As the bombs dropped on the city, we raced to the port. Here all sorts of vessels lined up to evacuate the population. I hoped that we would be assigned to one of the sturdy blue fishing boats, but by the time we reached the head of the queue the small fleet had departed. Our only option now was to pay pirates to help us make our escape.

After some haggling, we exchanged TPR’s gold watch and my wedding ring for a place on a leaky wooden raft. It did not look very seaworthy, but what option did we have?