A man eats dinner with his wife. They discuss how he clearly deserves a promotion, but his boss would never allow it. They finish their dinner and bring their plates into the kitchen.
“As long as I have you and a steady job, I’m happy”, the man said, kissing his wife on the forehead. They head to bed. It is 11 at night, with the clear moon shining through the window. The man slowly drifts to sleep.
The man’s name is Jack Woods. He was born in 1962 and raised on his family’s farm. He went to the nearby high school. After high school, he did not have the money to go to college. He became an accountant, earning an average salary. He met his wife at the age of 20, and quickly fell in love and married a year later. They have been married for 9 years now. He has been working at the same place for the same place for the past 11 years and only makes a little more than he did when he started.
The man wakes up, but he is no longer at home in his bed. He sits up on the mat, staring at the metal bars in front of him. It was just a dream. His wife is no longer with him. He found her laying outside their front door, stabbed to death. His boss was also murdered, just a few days afterwards. He was found guilty of the murders, although he was truly innocent. He received a life sentence for the murder of his wife and boss. The gates buzz and the bars slide open. He steps out of his cell and lines up with the other prisoners. They walk to the showers. A cold gush of water hits his face, as it does everyday for the past 4 months.
Everyday, he goes through the same routine. At 6:00, all the inmates wake up and hit the showers. After showering, they go back to their cells to fix their bed and eat breakfast. At 7:00, he has leisure time in the prison yard. At 11:00, everyone eats lunch. At 11:30, he works in the laundry department, folding and packing up clothes and bed sheets. At 5:30, everyone eats dinner. After dinner, everyone goes back to their cells, then lights out at 9:00. He repeats this process everyday, with little variation.
He is neither the biggest nor the toughest inmate around. In his first month in prison, he was often harassed by the others. He was beat up, had his food stolen, and came close to being raped once, if it wasn't for the nearby guards. Now, he learned to avoid any type of interaction with others, just trying to get through the day.
Before he sleeps, he mourns for his wife. He can not cry anymore, after what happened when the inmate in the next cell heard him.
Everyday since a month ago, he tries to smuggle out shirts and bed sheets and whatever else he could get his hands on and hide it in his mat. He has collected a sizeable amount, enough to feel a small lump in the bed if laid on but not enough to notice.
One night, he lies completely awake in his bed at night. He does not mourn for his wife. Once it seems like everyone has gone to sleep, he gets up and pulls the clothing and bed sheets out of his mat. He rips them up, making long strips of cloth. Using the cloth, he makes a loose rope. He ties the rope, making something that resembles a noose. He ties it to the pull up bar in his cell and places a chair underneath it. Standing on the chair, he puts his head through the loop. He takes a deep breath and closes his eyes. He kicks over the chair he’s standing on.
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