The fluorescent lights of the courtroom hummed, a sickly101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPexk1ncGOa
counterpoint to the judge's monotone pronouncements.101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF8wFVCAskB
Joshua, twenty-four years old, felt the cheap wool of his101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCBliaFu8JM
borrowed sweater prickle his skin. His usually vibrant,101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT4XaKxKAIx
brightly colored fursuit lay forgotten somewhere in his101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU5Eu7cg6LF
parents' house, a stark reminder of a life that felt impossibly101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO71337Ni5N
distant. He'd worn a simple, grey sweater at his lawyer’s101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVq5GJkzMxW
insistence, a desperate attempt to appear less… well, less101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqMdATbKZN1
him . Less furry. Less of a target. The strategy had clearly101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnr7fh242C7
failed.101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaDfoFXSc6o
The gavel fell, a sharp crack echoing in the cavernous room,101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ09gFUBWtK3
and the word “guilty” hung in the air, thick and suffocating.101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQvV6uIxH1P
Fifteen years. Fifteen years for a Tumblr post. A post, he101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw9orGrG9T5
reminded himself numbly, that had been a poorly worded,101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhqAXQCh1xM
angry rant. A cry for help, lost in the vast, chaotic landscape101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH26yqffW8J
of the internet. A cry that had landed him here, surrounded101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGBeyjwgrXB
by the harsh reality of the legal system’s cold indifference.101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgIgFnXZ9bW
The initial shock was a physical blow, a wave of nausea that101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAn301Z6zmD
left him weak and trembling. He’d expected a slap on the101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ01B5K5BSps
wrist, maybe probation, community service. Anything but101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpbEGT914zr
this. This brutal, finality. He looked at his lawyer, a woman101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgBfENlMLs3
whose face was as devoid of expression as the cheap, plastic101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIMtnBRJx7c
pen she held. She hadn’t even tried to fight harder, not really.101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTT2g9DRqny
He’d caught the weary resignation in her eyes, the unspoken101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY90VmXTGZS
understanding that the system, in this case, had already made101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFq02zcDQqI
its decision. His lawyer hadn't even bothered to mention the101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkrjOefyCiw
appeal process. It was as if she, too, believed that fifteen101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD8xTAI40M9
years was a fair punishment for an online outburst.
The walk to the transport vehicle was a blur. The cold steel101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡplIq4d7DGf
of the van's floor bit into his thin socks. The air inside was101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPkrv9VS3pV
stale and thick with the metallic tang of fear and despair. He101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwO5lIj1n9x
sat hunched, his head bowed, trying to disappear, to become101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlLbsdOc7Ir
invisible. Around him, other prisoners – hardened criminals,101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8aGCSnyQFT
their faces etched with years of violence and regret –101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHyu9p2kWPW
watched him with a mixture of apathy and something akin to101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu3GEMcfU6Q
contempt. He was a new arrival, a lamb amongst wolves, and101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqoNEZNws5M
they knew it.101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8MewdEJ6iH
His naiveté was a crushing weight. The world he knew, the101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUhCzsT2BCt
world of online communities, conventions, and the101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7PoTxPdW2q
comforting anonymity of the internet, seemed light years101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaHYy8cxxGt
away. This was a different universe, a harsh, unforgiving101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAgLfh8FtdU
reality governed by brute force and unspoken rules. This was101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEwosge9Zy6
Martin Correctional, and it was a place where apologies101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5H0srSYedM
were meaningless and compassion was a luxury few could101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaSRGfCIGIS
afford.101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡirOCuo2izO
The journey was punctuated by the rhythmic clang of the101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdLtmujBmdM
van's metal body, a relentless soundtrack to his plummeting101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNkciQQLZcf
despair. Every bump in the road felt like a hammer blow101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHIt43jzko5
against his already shattered confidence. He stared at his101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKkBAEl0k48
hands, noticing for the first time how shaky they were, how101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUQsnGqDTkZ
pale his skin had become. The vibrant, life-affirming colors101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTFernnuUvs
that defined his online persona, the joyful chaos of his101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa6q6Xicgdz
fandom, seemed to fade into a dull, lifeless grey. The vibrant101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE5nngNwMWg
colors were replaced by a sense of impending doom.101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqYODLHg6gF
He tried to remember the words of his lawyer, but they were101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfXTKs7WmjS
already dissolving into a fog of fear and disbelief. He tried to101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr4IW7k2DBC
think about his parents, their faces etched with worry and101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDYjCaJ9ap2
disappointment. He’d heard their voices in the courtroom,101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqFKJG0mREa
hushed whispers punctuated by occasional sobs. But the101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxaLgVA8zWj
distance between them, the sheer physical and emotional101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8OciFqvfrC
chasm that separated him from his old life, felt insurmountable. He’d betrayed their trust, their hopes, their101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiWcZlu953A
dreams. His own dreams.101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLF6pMXXBzf
The van screeched to a halt, and the heavy metal doors101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ36SiwJKb1w
groaned open, releasing a wave of stale, suffocating air thick101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ5pora5MnQ
with the stench of sweat, mildew, and something else…101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ951XkaAt4e
something acrid and indefinably unsettling. It was the smell101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiMk7NA5Zby
of fear, he realized with a shudder, the smell of desperation101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIOxN3vI22i
and despair. It was the odor of Martin Correctional, and it101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsLX4hD0dC9
clung to everything, a suffocating blanket of hopelessness.101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3XPwe5aPvi
The prison was a concrete labyrinth, a maze of corridors and101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaRa8nuKvVO
cells that seemed designed to disorient and demoralize. The101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqqH3qk7H4a
sounds were a cacophony – the rhythmic clang of metal101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvuP0KFwDel
doors, the shouts and threats of inmates, the distant thud of101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVQxKjxyZfa
fists against flesh. The air hung heavy with the weight of101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT0iAa6hzmt
violence, both present and past, and every shadow seemed to101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDWXN3Iq1I3
conceal a potential threat. The fluorescent lights seemed dim101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb3vT7DoJSi
and incapable of penetrating the darkness that permeated101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPuWH3dL2cc
every corner. It was a place where hope seemed to wither101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTGeAb7oJas
and die, where the only currency was violence and brutality.101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL08nAcvLEV
He was a stranger in this world. He didn't know the rules. He101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2GogbAy8EK
didn't know the players. He was alone.101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz3xyDht9YL
He was stripped, searched, and processed, each step a further101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMSCoSd2PUc
degradation, a stripping away of his identity, a reduction to101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAs8KWdBV1p
the lowest common denominator: a number, a prisoner, a101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnYx4a5ofMC
potential victim. The guards were indifferent, their faces101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy4DNJba2G4
hard and unreadable, their movements efficient and101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgagHDtEOkr
emotionless. They were cogs in a machine, and he was101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡibzn9AlJz5
merely another piece of raw material being processed by the101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEcbVyzdrdg
system. He was stripped of his clothes and individuality.101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd1vt881d5C
As he was led down a long, dimly lit corridor, the reality of101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRQaCQO315J
his situation began to sink in. The fifteen-year sentence101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGTXK2qN1J0
wasn't just a number; it was a life sentence, a death sentence.
He felt like a puppet in a dark show of cruelty. This was the101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyNL9Afu39i
grim beginning of his new existence in the abyss of Martin101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc7QXQ3MxpW
Correctional, a prison where survival was a constant101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEFg9fBAPOS
struggle, and where even the slightest misstep could prove101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEhp4FNMp6I
fatal. He was a newcomer to the game, and he had yet to101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcaENHan79K
learn the rules, even to understand what the game actually101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIodVZuXoXL
was. The future remained a dark, unknown road, where101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNAm7oOz5Py
every step felt dangerous and uncertain. The fear was real101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKGqvOtMpBa
and visceral. He had no idea of the kind of transformation101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdlYUVnZ8Lx
this place was capable of fostering.
ns216.73.216.8da2
