The fluorescent lights of the courtroom hummed, a sickly100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRetCpfi5ZU
counterpoint to the judge's monotone pronouncements.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhyKY9FegMM
Joshua, twenty-four years old, felt the cheap wool of his100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeDSLFHBynV
borrowed sweater prickle his skin. His usually vibrant,100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0ZkAIbbY88
brightly colored fursuit lay forgotten somewhere in his100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8Nk9mLPxv3
parents' house, a stark reminder of a life that felt impossibly100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOLY1QN76hT
distant. He'd worn a simple, grey sweater at his lawyer’s100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhavOawSRY0
insistence, a desperate attempt to appear less… well, less100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFzDiVEVE9m
him . Less furry. Less of a target. The strategy had clearly100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw5nJjqKA7S
failed.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoD78pCkhiV
The gavel fell, a sharp crack echoing in the cavernous room,100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnu8dSKV9OB
and the word “guilty” hung in the air, thick and suffocating.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWgqtGkdSNX
Fifteen years. Fifteen years for a Tumblr post. A post, he100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7BCl4mhJLg
reminded himself numbly, that had been a poorly worded,100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjSePDpQsaa
angry rant. A cry for help, lost in the vast, chaotic landscape100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw2IJC9B9Ez
of the internet. A cry that had landed him here, surrounded100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZYkzMvO7mQ
by the harsh reality of the legal system’s cold indifference.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡReG2auRxab
The initial shock was a physical blow, a wave of nausea that100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh0dvyf748v
left him weak and trembling. He’d expected a slap on the100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvVJhy6sC9B
wrist, maybe probation, community service. Anything but100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM1JO7tAyw3
this. This brutal, finality. He looked at his lawyer, a woman100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEcFjhcxSof
whose face was as devoid of expression as the cheap, plastic100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHdszbablfV
pen she held. She hadn’t even tried to fight harder, not really.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjtLXgvvelX
He’d caught the weary resignation in her eyes, the unspoken100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDUvUbCvWE7
understanding that the system, in this case, had already made100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkiWN2h1CDq
its decision. His lawyer hadn't even bothered to mention the100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9XnjstHibU
appeal process. It was as if she, too, believed that fifteen100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuQYDLXgtLx
years was a fair punishment for an online outburst.
The walk to the transport vehicle was a blur. The cold steel100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzpksSfw5vz
of the van's floor bit into his thin socks. The air inside was100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIgQHs07uQx
stale and thick with the metallic tang of fear and despair. He100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqaanF5G8Et
sat hunched, his head bowed, trying to disappear, to become100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCYfc9vTlOI
invisible. Around him, other prisoners – hardened criminals,100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡewZ7P0do2y
their faces etched with years of violence and regret –100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQmudq2NAsF
watched him with a mixture of apathy and something akin to100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDhTMcWhvbg
contempt. He was a new arrival, a lamb amongst wolves, and100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4fHP8mkNUj
they knew it.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡunv52s4y9M
His naiveté was a crushing weight. The world he knew, the100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7VI5AAipoL
world of online communities, conventions, and the100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlTgY015X5P
comforting anonymity of the internet, seemed light years100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAi1GwklfTC
away. This was a different universe, a harsh, unforgiving100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9GWoE5IIp7
reality governed by brute force and unspoken rules. This was100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6RiLD81tyF
Martin Correctional, and it was a place where apologies100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLOR6hAvCCF
were meaningless and compassion was a luxury few could100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKBN30eAPeM
afford.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡophd11nkYp
The journey was punctuated by the rhythmic clang of the100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQwGxRpdIua
van's metal body, a relentless soundtrack to his plummeting100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZt2vIrxFXm
despair. Every bump in the road felt like a hammer blow100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5bGXpXaCqU
against his already shattered confidence. He stared at his100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0UaYQVz7qj
hands, noticing for the first time how shaky they were, how100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZmrmFlw5Ce
pale his skin had become. The vibrant, life-affirming colors100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8K2cFg1aQB
that defined his online persona, the joyful chaos of his100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAiUZPwtXK9
fandom, seemed to fade into a dull, lifeless grey. The vibrant100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ2mKZYKWQn
colors were replaced by a sense of impending doom.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpJDDVCsS95
He tried to remember the words of his lawyer, but they were100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt8GLOVXU4O
already dissolving into a fog of fear and disbelief. He tried to100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA9uBx6E725
think about his parents, their faces etched with worry and100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5BpnDAepE6
disappointment. He’d heard their voices in the courtroom,100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWcCOYP1aZ7
hushed whispers punctuated by occasional sobs. But the100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7dc7eyS8fn
distance between them, the sheer physical and emotional100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRJq855O0UH
chasm that separated him from his old life, felt insurmountable. He’d betrayed their trust, their hopes, their100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDFkRp75mJS
dreams. His own dreams.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfS1kxJ0Nfe
The van screeched to a halt, and the heavy metal doors100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOUFTKijCc8
groaned open, releasing a wave of stale, suffocating air thick100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQW6hCV9U4w
with the stench of sweat, mildew, and something else…100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFNzXlvRBdQ
something acrid and indefinably unsettling. It was the smell100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq16P3ihw3D
of fear, he realized with a shudder, the smell of desperation100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx7vxlaTtXl
and despair. It was the odor of Martin Correctional, and it100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1bMxglNqY8
clung to everything, a suffocating blanket of hopelessness.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡltArTMPYsB
The prison was a concrete labyrinth, a maze of corridors and100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf1nmh0fL5P
cells that seemed designed to disorient and demoralize. The100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMmMi37nhGT
sounds were a cacophony – the rhythmic clang of metal100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjuErExLkw2
doors, the shouts and threats of inmates, the distant thud of100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQMXn5x2PUF
fists against flesh. The air hung heavy with the weight of100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrAn8NxDJL4
violence, both present and past, and every shadow seemed to100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpF1bZCyoFD
conceal a potential threat. The fluorescent lights seemed dim100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbNILdZtLO8
and incapable of penetrating the darkness that permeated100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIN4uWhUuXv
every corner. It was a place where hope seemed to wither100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT8oLh2PY17
and die, where the only currency was violence and brutality.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNd9gZYItDM
He was a stranger in this world. He didn't know the rules. He100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjevIRi0IqL
didn't know the players. He was alone.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUsscLcoNtZ
He was stripped, searched, and processed, each step a further100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpkiWktC7KG
degradation, a stripping away of his identity, a reduction to100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2oKgMQVJAs
the lowest common denominator: a number, a prisoner, a100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKGhaTykTCG
potential victim. The guards were indifferent, their faces100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIDktxVC4u7
hard and unreadable, their movements efficient and100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ33B16t2BDP
emotionless. They were cogs in a machine, and he was100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFPMbEOb4x4
merely another piece of raw material being processed by the100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡImTBv2ddSS
system. He was stripped of his clothes and individuality.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw6d3Rk61zX
As he was led down a long, dimly lit corridor, the reality of100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNl2isz6P73
his situation began to sink in. The fifteen-year sentence100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNo5IkxDOg1
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 the100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGQFhvjKRCp
grim beginning of his new existence in the abyss of Martin100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTdf6QDkZwu
Correctional, a prison where survival was a constant100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgIaXRXEI8a
struggle, and where even the slightest misstep could prove100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkSEsnznwNw
fatal. He was a newcomer to the game, and he had yet to100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcXlpRfDu2R
learn the rules, even to understand what the game actually100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu6hODcNDMJ
was. The future remained a dark, unknown road, where100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi0JnPv7ytv
every step felt dangerous and uncertain. The fear was real100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI6wdjAPFXh
and visceral. He had no idea of the kind of transformation100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiNTxMajnm0
this place was capable of fostering.
ns216.73.216.65da2
