A snippet

Just because some friends told me I really should...here you go!  Remember, ROUGH draft here, so be nice!


   The prison was fully awake now.  I could hear the nonstop chatter of inmates.  The shuffle of worn out shoes.  The occasional angry shout.  I let my eyes shut, let the sounds envelope me.  Someone shouted louder, their voice full of anger.  I could hear a body slam into something solid.  The gasps of people standing by.  Then, right on the cue, the heavy thump of boots as the guards ran to the fight.  Inmates shouted, some cheering on the fighters, some scared and trying to get away from the crowd.  Then suddenly it was quiet, everything falling back to the shuffle and murmur of usual rhythm.
   This was the music my life consisted of.  The beat of the laundry room, the strum of the shuffling feet, the occasional solo of a frenzied fight, always ending with the finale buzz declaring lights out.  I had only heard true music a handful of times in my life.  It was beautiful.  Every note was clear and lacking chaos.  I longed to hear it more, but in Spokane, only the priviledged got any kind of music playing device.  I didn’t have a job, and my parents rarely worked.  This meant we had no points, and no special treatment.  The only music I was allowed was the daily songs of the prison walk.
   My mind drifted more.  I felt my lips vibrating as they hummed an uneven rhythm that swayed and moved with the sounds of the prison.  Occasionally a small snatch of one of the unnamed random songs I had heard before mixed in, giving my melody a strange, haunting sound.  I let a small smile spread on my lips.  It felt good to be alone in the cell.  No chattering.  No need to check in and make sure my mother was clean or my father was awake.
   In my mind a saw a green field take form.  I let myself fall into the daydream.  The field was one I had seen many times in my school books.  Rolling hills, green with occasional patches of white flowers.  The sky blue with light fluffy clouds floating by.  I could hear the songs of the birds in the distance.  The lap of unseen water.
   Laying down in the grass, I let the sun bake my soft skin.  My clothes were clean, smelling of flowers instead of the usual stink of rank soap and dirty sweat.  There was no one around.  Aside from the crash of the waters and the singing of the birds, I was completely alone.  My smile grew wider.
   The sound of someone clearing their throat snapped me from my dreaming.  Blinking my eyes open, I leaned forward and looked down at the open cell door.  Carl GF4 was leaning in it, his arms folded across his uniform chest, a sly grin smugly spread on his face.