The jury filed into the musty, sweltering courtroom, one by one like a row of soldiers; they sat down with ease, without an ounce of guilt or regret. My face turned white; it was whiter than snow and whiter than cotton. I shut my eyes for a moment, yearning to feel a southern breeze permeating freedom outside of the courthouse. I thought I was as free as a dove. I knew I was innocent and that my conscience was as clear as the flashes from the cameras showing right through my pale, shrewd frame. A hush gathered around the courtroom and not a single particle of air moved in or out of a mouth once the judge gingerly picked up the envelope. The judge lowered his half-moon spectacles, cleared his throat, and took a deep breath.
“I find the defendant guilty of all charges,” spoke the judge. Gasps were exclaimed, cameras flashed, newspapers were printed, a cell door was locked, an alarm sounded, and a search boat was sent out.
All I could think of was how cold it was. Chills went all the way down to my spine; water has a way of doing that to you. The black shine of midnight reflected the stars off of those frigid and unforgiving waves. The constant turbulence of those relentless waves made it hard to row, but there were three of us working together, three flags of white against a sea of black. The lighthouse was far away enough for us to relax our persistent rowing, but I still possessed this fear; this fear that shook every frame of my being. We had managed to get out of a prison believed to be escape-proof. We had achieved the impossible.
Ever since I got into the water with my two comrades, all I could hear was this shrieking. Tornadoes sounded like a harp compared to this wailing. I knew the alarms would shoot off, but I never thought they would sound so wretched and piercing. I gained control of my shaking hands and pushed arduously against the water. I rowed until I couldn’t hear the sirens, until I couldn’t think, until my world went dark. After an hour or two, my body finally gave in and I woke up to a damp cloth being shoved into my mouth. My comrades woke me up from nightmare worse than the one I was living. A boat was coming towards us.
I knew the boat had not spotted us, because of how slow it was moving, but it was coming close, too close. Soon, the boat reached us, shining a spotlight almost directly into our eyes. All I could remember was the silence that preceded. The roaring of the waves seemed to completely die to my ears and the alarms sounded like a whisper. I was screaming in my head, blocking out everything, even the pounding of my heart. Holding my breath, the boat slowly crept past us. Finally, we were free. Without warning, one of my comrades vomited into the water. A light shined on us, and I knew it wasn’t the light mentioned in the Bible, but the light that guided us back into our hellish reality. Like the trial, my face was white again, but my innocence was gone. I almost escaped from Alcatraz.