Hello everyone, hope your day is going well. Here is my entry for the Steemit Engagement Challenge Season 16 Week 3, in the Venezolanos Steem Community. I would like to also invite @chiabertrand, @yolvijrm, @pelon53, and @slon21veka to come partake in this contest.

Once upon a time in the days of old, there lived a man by name Jake. Jake has been stranded in a foreign land for over a decade, with no way of getting back home. The land had a very strict rule against foreigners, as they could easily be labeled as spies. The biggest challenge Jake has was to earn money. Everyday passed with very little assurance of a new day for Jake. Jake would go to the ocean banks regularly to sneak his way into ships and boats that sailed off, but was never successful.

One faithful morning, Jake decided to make a traditional vessel that he would use to sail through the big waters, with the hope of getting back home eventually. After successfully putting together a Dory Canoe from scratch, he pushed it into the ocean and hopped in. Little did he know that a Dory Canoe requires good skill to keep it steady when empty. Jake had no friends and was so calculative about his moves. He feared that the death punishment could be declared if he ever got caught. Every night, Jake would practice on how to sail on his vessel but all his efforts amounted to nothing 😞. After trying for weeks, he gradually lost his optimism, and thought to sell it off for cash. His biggest challenge was getting a buyer who would asked absolutely no question. He cautiously searched for his buyer until he met a potential buyer. He negotiated a fair enough price and rushed back to the banks to deliver to the buyer so that he cout be paid, but little did he know that life had a twist for him.

As he approached the spot, he noticed that his canoe was gradually drifting away, he slowly accelerated to catch up but the canoe kept on drifting more and more into the big waters. It was then he realized that his entire life's work was jeopardized. As he approached the vessel, only then did he realize that his canoe was being stolen by 3 men. He dived into the waters and swam fast until he eventually caught up with the canoe. He struggled to hop in but the men kept shoving his hands off the side of the vessel. Jake was astonished at how stable his vessel had suddenly become. After struggling to get on the vessel for over 20 minutes, he then reasoned that the vessel is of more use to him in the possession of those men than it was with him. Still hanging on the side of the canoe, Jake whispered to the closest man onboard, "I'll give you my canoe for safe passage". At first the thieves thought it was a trick, but after debating on it for another 20 minutes, they pull him onboard on the condition that he sits at the extreme edge of the vessel all through the sail. At this point in time, Jake had no choice; all he could think of was to get back home.

Jake took his spot as agreed while one of the thieves sat very close to him, with the intent of shoving him off the vessel if he thinks about doing something crazy. Jake sat at the extreme end of the canoe as the sailed through the waters. As they sailed for hours, Jake thought to himself quickly, "on the bright side, I won't have to paddle all throughout this trip ".