via Writer's Friend
Manuscript Task: Prison Blues
“The mellow sweetness of pumpkin pie off a prison spoon
is something you will never forget.” – Mitchell Burgess
For this task, put yourself in the shoes of an inmate and write a one-page (minimum) letter to the outside. First, determine …
- why you’re there and how you feel about it
- who you’re writing to and your relationship with that person/people
- your purpose for writing the letter
You needn’t be specific about your crime (in fact, your letter may be more compelling if you aren’t). Actually envision yourself in a cell and try to make your angst, loneliness, longing, etc. come through in your detailed writing. Be as creative as you’d like with this—you can be a prisoner of something other than a jail cell, for instance.
It’s been so
long since I last wrote to you that you might not even remember me. I pray that's not the case. It’s been hard to get paper but that’s no
excuse for taking so long. When I do get a sheet in front
of me, my pencil hangs lazily above it until I give up and go back to staring
out the window. I can see people’s feet
go by and the dust of the road chokes me but sometimes, if I stare long enough,
I can see the glint of the setting sun through my depressing little barred
window.
Waiting to
see the sun reminded me of how I would hang around the market waiting to see
you. It was with the same sort of
hopefulness and trepidation. You always
brightened my day and even thinking about you puts me in a better mood. Sometimes I think that I might not see the
sun because of the other inmates – but I won’t get into that. In case I never see you again, I decided
to write you again. I pray that this
gets to you and that you’ll be able to write back.
I should
start by explaining why I stopped writing in the first place. I was worried that one of my fellow inmates
would see your name on the envelope and connect the dots. I don’t want to put you in any danger. This nearly happened once but, thankfully,
most of the men in here can’t read. One is looking at me right now – it’s funny, really. He looks almost afraid of me, like I’m a
wizard casting a spell with this pencil.
Well, to his mind, maybe I am. It’s
truly sad that so many of these men are so ignorant; they have almost no hope
of avoiding prison. They are at such a
disadvantage…but I should go on. This
letter is not about my friends on the inside. I have always wanted to protect you, to shield you from the things I get involved with. Now, though, there is nothing they can do to hurt me, they won't go after you. I have no life left in front of me so they cannot stop me from writing.
I wanted to
say – that is, write – that I still think about you every day. Every single day. You are the first thing I think about and the
last before I go to bed. The dreams I
have of you are a balm against the horrors I experience daily. I don’t want to hurt you by saying anything
like this, I know how you must have suffered after I was captured, but I want
you to know that I still love you. No
matter what. It has been so long and I’m
sure that you have moved on but I need you to know that.
Things have
gotten worse. From what I hear, the king
has gone even more insane and the general is more or less running things. This isn’t good for someone like me, I don’t know
how many days I have left. The inmates
dislike me well enough but the guards are the ones who really pose a threat to
me. They know who I am and they would
not hesitate to kill me if the general called for it. I’d have an ignominious end and I’d just be
another man who went into prison and disappeared without a trace.
I need you
to be my trace. Please, never forget
me. No matter if you’ve remarried, you’re
single or when you grow old, never forget what we had. You are the best thing that I ever had in my
life, know that. I don’t care what
happens to me – I always knew the dangers I faced by choosing this path. You are my rock and I don’t fear anything knowing that you are safe on the outside.
Love,
Gerard
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