Prison Freedom

            The first thing I see when I open my eyes is the color grey.  When I sit up I look around the room although I have seen the same thing my whole life.  Grey walls, metal bed with white sheets, a silver toilet in the corner, and high on the wall, a small window to view the sky.  That day, the sky was blue with a few clouds. 

            I turned around when I heard the bars slide and the doors open.  A man came in wearing the guard uniform which was dark green, with brown boots, a green cap, and a gun bigger then me.  

            “Breakfast,” he told me and I got out of my bed, walked up to him, and put both my arms out.  The guard tied a chain around my waist, ankles, and wrists.  He put his hand on my shoulder and directed me down the hall, a few turns, and then into the cafeteria. 

            The cafeteria was full with other inmates wearing the same prison uniform I was wearing.  A one-piece light blue jump suit, but females wore a white T-shirt underneath while the males did not.  I got on the breakfast line, and then got a gray trey, and then the food lady put bread, eggs, and a cup of water on my trey.  I then walked over to the next seat that was available and sat down. 

            Some people already touch their foods and started drinking their water, but I stared at my breakfast and let my long hair cover the front of my face.  I was thinking about why I was in jail and what I did to live there.  The truth was, I did not do anything wrong except being alive.  The other inmates were in prison for the same exact reason that I was:

We were born in prison and sentence to life

            My name is 2062-13 and under my name outside my cell was the number 10.  I was 10 years old, meaning that I had been in prison for 10 years.  I never knew my parents.  I did not know if I have any siblings.  But above all, I did not know if I had a family.  I could spell, read, write, or count.  There was no education in jail because education was for those born and lived free. 

            After breakfast I was sent back to my cell and the guard (a different guard) gave me toothpaste and a brush, along with soap to wash my hands.  After brushing my teeth and washing my hands, I returned the objects to the guard who then took me to the back doors to line up with the others.  

            When the doors open we walked in two single file lines.  We were walking to the building next to the prison:  The Factory.  Everyday the guards assigned us a job and on that day I was assigned to untying knots.  At the beginning of the workday it was boring and easy but as the day progress, my fingers started to ach and become numb. 

            Every now and then the doors to the factory would open and we had to close our eyes or squint.  Most of the times it was a group of guards who were ready to take over the shift of the guards who were watching us.  Sometimes it was a group of men wearing clean suits and shiny black boots.  We knew these men had power and money and when they came, it meant business.  That day when the door open, a group of men in suits came in along with a few women who also showed they had power and money. 

            “You,” said one of the men snapping his fingers and pointing to one of the boys.  The boy looked up and walked over to the man but did not dare stare him in the eye.

            “Shine my shoe,” said the man and the boy found a cloth and shiner around the room and started to shine the man’s shoe.  When the boy was done, he got up but still looked down.  Then the man slapped him and spit at him.  Even though this terrible act happened, everyone continued working as if nothing happened.

            “Useless scum,” said the man with a smile on his face, staring at the boy.  The group of grown ups laughed with him.  Then he turned to the guard. 

            “I heard we had two accidents yesterdays, can we see them?”  The guard nodded and walked upstairs to get the two children.  When he came back down, he had two girls.  One girl was a bit older then me while the other one looked like she was barely five.

            “Put out your hands girls,” said the guard as the girls presented their hands.  The older girl showed that her index finger was gone while the youngest showed that she lost a total of three fingers and had a fourth bandage.  The man and the other people looked at the girls’ hands very carefully and examined them. 

            “Take this one away, send her back to her job,” said one of the women and a second guard came to escort her back upstairs.  The group was still examining the younger girl and talked quietly among themselves. 

            “Send this one to the basement.  We can always replace her.  We have a new batch of toddlers arriving tomorrow anyway,” said a very fat man and a third guard came over to escort the very young child out of the factory and back to the prison, where she will be sent to the basement.  All the inmates knew that once you were sent to the basement, you would never come back.  It was very sad when a child went to the basement but no one paid attention and no one cried.  There were no friends in prison; only those who were free could have friends. 

            The group of people walked around and examined each station in the factory and talked among themselves, even though we could hear them.  We heard them say the words “bastards”, “useless”, “ungrateful”, “his parent must had been a drunk,” “her parent must had been a hooker”, and so on.  When the people left we were all happy and many hours later the guards called it a day and escorted us to the cafeteria for dinner.  That night we had bread, one burger (without the buns), and a cup of water. 

            After dinner the guards came in and made us line up in age order.  They did this every few days or so.  The guards mostly focused on the older kids, the ones who were almost nineteen or older.  We all watch the guards pull out about six of the older kids and escorted them out.  We knew where they were taking them.  The older kids were going to be sent to adult prisons where the adults could have gone to prison for any number of reasons from stealing to murder.  When the older kids were gone, we were each escorted back to our cells and getting ready for sleep. 

            Once I was in my cell, the guard took off my chains and closed the bars.  I looked up at the window and saw the night sky along with a crescent moon and stars.  I then lay in my bed and went under the sheets before the lights went out and stared at the sky. 

            I was thinking about my parents and wondering who they were and if they knew that I would end up here.  But I understood why I was here.  Scientist discovered a long time ago human genetics and eventually took it one step further.  They discovered that children born in prison would eventually commit a horrible crime, such as murder, rape, torture, and more.  The percentage of us becoming terrible criminals was 95%.  To keep society safe and unharmed, they put us in prison from the moment we are born.  The guards said we lost our freedom:  freedom of speech, education, owning property, voting, and the freedom to be free.  It took me a while that night, but I realized that I would live and die in prison.  I would never be free.  But I badly wanted to be free and have freedom.  Because I could have been part of that 5% who would grows up to be a kind and wonderful person with a family.  I closed my eyes with one tear going down my cheek because I knew:  This was not my fault.  I did nothing wrong.