Behind Trap Doors

The rough, white wall was blank in front of me, my body numb, and the deadly silence, creeping up on me like a stalker in the dark. I stared at the wall sitting straight up on the rock hard bed not believing that this was my life now. I was a blank portrait never to be painted. My parents; dead. My daughter; taken. My death row sentence; for a murder I did not commit.

A clatter outside my door woke me from my daze. Guards rushed around unusually, bumping into each other. Did they know that everything you love can be washed away in an instance? To never know whether your parents ever loved you, why your wife had to die and why you sat here in this cell. I felt torn up and thrown away as I sat, a blank expression painted on my face.

The bag lying on the floor containing my cellmate’s body was like an omen, black and still, teasing me of my fate. I didn’t notice the absence of the guards till I heard the rumble of thunder outside my window. A white dove flew past my window dropping a diamond from its beak between the bars of my window. It was ironic really; that bird so free and peaceful while I sat here trapped and convicted of some murder I didn’t perform.

I grabbed the diamond and without thinking, I started scratching all my thoughts and feelings over the blank wall; a never ending nightmare of my life. Abandoned, Stolen, Feared, No Parents, Not Guilty, Outcast. A flash of lightning and a crack of thunder was all that could be heard as I released an almighty scream. I bashed the wall with my hand, the diamond slipping from my fingers like my sanity.

Rain poured down as I slipped down the wall, landing in a heap of messed up emotions on the floor. I curled my knees up to my chin and rocked back and forth, the rough cloth of my orange jumpsuit scratching my neck. The pain in my knuckles slowly receded as sirens went off throughout the jail, echoing through the halls. The wind outside my window whistled and wailed causing rain to pour into my cell. I realised this was it; my end.

As I unzipped the black bag, I recognised the man who had once been a friend, a comfort. I slipped my body into the bag having relief from the fact that I had company of some sort. The rush of cold water approached, like a whisper I could not fully comprehend. Water began to seep into the bag as I zipped it back up, the light from my cell slowly fading to black. I felt peace as I realised this was what it felt like; death.