The fluorescent lights of the courtroom hummed, a sickly113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQFWACS7mSg
counterpoint to the judge's monotone pronouncements.113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAmRHL03wX6
Joshua, twenty-four years old, felt the cheap wool of his113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS6zfqnKZD5
borrowed sweater prickle his skin. His usually vibrant,113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiXRJV2tDVw
brightly colored fursuit lay forgotten somewhere in his113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5rUdb7EuzK
parents' house, a stark reminder of a life that felt impossibly113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡltp2JPhgud
distant. He'd worn a simple, grey sweater at his lawyer’s113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡamfU7pGKZ1
insistence, a desperate attempt to appear less… well, less113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYMqgRqyTHv
him . Less furry. Less of a target. The strategy had clearly113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyko5LZtd4E
failed.113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡILPDZryk7j
The gavel fell, a sharp crack echoing in the cavernous room,113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIdECDJOaAv
and the word “guilty” hung in the air, thick and suffocating.113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7RHysdPP6G
Fifteen years. Fifteen years for a Tumblr post. A post, he113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlqQ4GWxzIE
reminded himself numbly, that had been a poorly worded,113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9GIUjd5c39
angry rant. A cry for help, lost in the vast, chaotic landscape113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX9SuetXQfi
of the internet. A cry that had landed him here, surrounded113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuycmTwRqAi
by the harsh reality of the legal system’s cold indifference.113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCo697fApBL
The initial shock was a physical blow, a wave of nausea that113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHiUoOFRYBX
left him weak and trembling. He’d expected a slap on the113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaYvUMI4IAy
wrist, maybe probation, community service. Anything but113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwRPifEUqcE
this. This brutal, finality. He looked at his lawyer, a woman113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHR0Uj4S4Ed
whose face was as devoid of expression as the cheap, plastic113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAgAsroe1YH
pen she held. She hadn’t even tried to fight harder, not really.113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIUPXQr2Y3Z
He’d caught the weary resignation in her eyes, the unspoken113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTesAj96RSN
understanding that the system, in this case, had already made113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡERFvbO77i2
its decision. His lawyer hadn't even bothered to mention the113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ19BP7zd039
appeal process. It was as if she, too, believed that fifteen113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2yXM7T0kFT
years was a fair punishment for an online outburst.
The walk to the transport vehicle was a blur. The cold steel113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs2WMD3Sop8
of the van's floor bit into his thin socks. The air inside was113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw8Ui6ejneI
stale and thick with the metallic tang of fear and despair. He113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSYRXlzfiRr
sat hunched, his head bowed, trying to disappear, to become113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ58b6B5hWu1
invisible. Around him, other prisoners – hardened criminals,113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI89AsCocn4
their faces etched with years of violence and regret –113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6uW2OcEZck
watched him with a mixture of apathy and something akin to113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYYRdZmgAG5
contempt. He was a new arrival, a lamb amongst wolves, and113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxu7bGW9jtK
they knew it.113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8R0XBwbFqE
His naiveté was a crushing weight. The world he knew, the113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjgDsYYAupu
world of online communities, conventions, and the113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDQro2OjupA
comforting anonymity of the internet, seemed light years113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq1zShF3xG1
away. This was a different universe, a harsh, unforgiving113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAZI9OnLVmP
reality governed by brute force and unspoken rules. This was113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPyiDtOb8kg
Martin Correctional, and it was a place where apologies113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFAiTGD45yQ
were meaningless and compassion was a luxury few could113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxohBLpyY1N
afford.113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa0KItWXRnz
The journey was punctuated by the rhythmic clang of the113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡegOK0kazT7
van's metal body, a relentless soundtrack to his plummeting113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyi0QzzhxIf
despair. Every bump in the road felt like a hammer blow113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiDLG0gWfFf
against his already shattered confidence. He stared at his113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl84hbku5pr
hands, noticing for the first time how shaky they were, how113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQtVxPDSqhb
pale his skin had become. The vibrant, life-affirming colors113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNLFiMKih9W
that defined his online persona, the joyful chaos of his113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRBoeGnyUjX
fandom, seemed to fade into a dull, lifeless grey. The vibrant113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfNoEW2mbBu
colors were replaced by a sense of impending doom.113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8r5QlH3p15
He tried to remember the words of his lawyer, but they were113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm6UajztaQM
already dissolving into a fog of fear and disbelief. He tried to113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkkzn83UZ4G
think about his parents, their faces etched with worry and113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKw8uCHnt8o
disappointment. He’d heard their voices in the courtroom,113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO9d6p2arlb
hushed whispers punctuated by occasional sobs. But the113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7DNfLL7Z8x
distance between them, the sheer physical and emotional113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnOQZV8dinh
chasm that separated him from his old life, felt insurmountable. He’d betrayed their trust, their hopes, their113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM62yNklG2Q
dreams. His own dreams.113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNtWeZdmAMZ
The van screeched to a halt, and the heavy metal doors113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWTQoEPaReF
groaned open, releasing a wave of stale, suffocating air thick113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDw5HBBGmPY
with the stench of sweat, mildew, and something else…113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlez8jE8PTJ
something acrid and indefinably unsettling. It was the smell113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq7Js2zjLAG
of fear, he realized with a shudder, the smell of desperation113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0WOeJv6usY
and despair. It was the odor of Martin Correctional, and it113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyCStRYMR14
clung to everything, a suffocating blanket of hopelessness.113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfWRaFUm0A2
The prison was a concrete labyrinth, a maze of corridors and113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHDM7KNcyo6
cells that seemed designed to disorient and demoralize. The113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdjV4bSxof3
sounds were a cacophony – the rhythmic clang of metal113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ01Gks6VTLv
doors, the shouts and threats of inmates, the distant thud of113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwx64LPuURC
fists against flesh. The air hung heavy with the weight of113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb0sIaJqzO9
violence, both present and past, and every shadow seemed to113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeyG4BVqf7u
conceal a potential threat. The fluorescent lights seemed dim113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAqUZyu8FDz
and incapable of penetrating the darkness that permeated113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ75aofKUxQC
every corner. It was a place where hope seemed to wither113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeb3Iy8S3Q3
and die, where the only currency was violence and brutality.113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC0udCbBdhS
He was a stranger in this world. He didn't know the rules. He113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ39guoa2n1B
didn't know the players. He was alone.113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5mE6lVYq2F
He was stripped, searched, and processed, each step a further113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2mFE5W2CKq
degradation, a stripping away of his identity, a reduction to113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFJSNR2UBIz
the lowest common denominator: a number, a prisoner, a113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH6vp4Ow8JA
potential victim. The guards were indifferent, their faces113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkcwGq0Htwl
hard and unreadable, their movements efficient and113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWNJM8KoEzR
emotionless. They were cogs in a machine, and he was113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTxoKriaTD5
merely another piece of raw material being processed by the113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeocDblnJ80
system. He was stripped of his clothes and individuality.113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOAbhXlWAMs
As he was led down a long, dimly lit corridor, the reality of113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkib9azWTJb
his situation began to sink in. The fifteen-year sentence113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbncfYHYEzF
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 the113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzhMW7vx8ok
grim beginning of his new existence in the abyss of Martin113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4Iw4FnLATF
Correctional, a prison where survival was a constant113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhMizepHLsr
struggle, and where even the slightest misstep could prove113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlkSsRIFhIZ
fatal. He was a newcomer to the game, and he had yet to113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtySw9jAmkp
learn the rules, even to understand what the game actually113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMs7jrsEltr
was. The future remained a dark, unknown road, where113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡncCR7kyIE2
every step felt dangerous and uncertain. The fear was real113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWnpRTvF5bA
and visceral. He had no idea of the kind of transformation113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPtA8r62b6h
this place was capable of fostering.
ns216.73.216.82da2
