The fluorescent lights of the courtroom hummed, a sickly100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX15ykTjUXc
counterpoint to the judge's monotone pronouncements.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF9TQ9yLfuS
Joshua, twenty-four years old, felt the cheap wool of his100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfyacsLqN1T
borrowed sweater prickle his skin. His usually vibrant,100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvXQ0Oj8Gr9
brightly colored fursuit lay forgotten somewhere in his100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnnF0rPiSyk
parents' house, a stark reminder of a life that felt impossibly100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvn6tGQa0wz
distant. He'd worn a simple, grey sweater at his lawyer’s100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5wS4ht8vPb
insistence, a desperate attempt to appear less… well, less100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡThpt669zlQ
him . Less furry. Less of a target. The strategy had clearly100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLOzvxNrSDP
failed.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHqTvD82Ems
The gavel fell, a sharp crack echoing in the cavernous room,100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPWhayPXKP1
and the word “guilty” hung in the air, thick and suffocating.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWZmoZiRB1Q
Fifteen years. Fifteen years for a Tumblr post. A post, he100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbvUgVXvjyD
reminded himself numbly, that had been a poorly worded,100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1fpQcyGAeN
angry rant. A cry for help, lost in the vast, chaotic landscape100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6O5z8gwrnn
of the internet. A cry that had landed him here, surrounded100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCrLItQ6PjH
by the harsh reality of the legal system’s cold indifference.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJlxk6kYXGK
The initial shock was a physical blow, a wave of nausea that100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4CnaOh1NcD
left him weak and trembling. He’d expected a slap on the100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqxCIFjiz0R
wrist, maybe probation, community service. Anything but100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYzN7autF60
this. This brutal, finality. He looked at his lawyer, a woman100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4r949rj9dW
whose face was as devoid of expression as the cheap, plastic100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwTp9JUefQM
pen she held. She hadn’t even tried to fight harder, not really.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXkDU2hSn2q
He’d caught the weary resignation in her eyes, the unspoken100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOeZbzqw0no
understanding that the system, in this case, had already made100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡahwOkl4Or8
its decision. His lawyer hadn't even bothered to mention the100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIEaYJ7t45C
appeal process. It was as if she, too, believed that fifteen100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSpgIYl3V2e
years was a fair punishment for an online outburst.
The walk to the transport vehicle was a blur. The cold steel100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfgBUCz1KoL
of the van's floor bit into his thin socks. The air inside was100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2LpaOm6hRh
stale and thick with the metallic tang of fear and despair. He100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRZVFFjp5du
sat hunched, his head bowed, trying to disappear, to become100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZLuzMA4V78
invisible. Around him, other prisoners – hardened criminals,100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7PA085YZmJ
their faces etched with years of violence and regret –100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡllocvm1HP1
watched him with a mixture of apathy and something akin to100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHpLK3NA5Hy
contempt. He was a new arrival, a lamb amongst wolves, and100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBFqas9YMem
they knew it.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3LVDquz0ba
His naiveté was a crushing weight. The world he knew, the100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqQHG2xBEmY
world of online communities, conventions, and the100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbCicsFvG1O
comforting anonymity of the internet, seemed light years100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkmKEEQr2NZ
away. This was a different universe, a harsh, unforgiving100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdArZlzexhV
reality governed by brute force and unspoken rules. This was100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjisdOIj0mK
Martin Correctional, and it was a place where apologies100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2jPOnkrlRt
were meaningless and compassion was a luxury few could100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfey8Tsezcg
afford.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5r3y8TVO98
The journey was punctuated by the rhythmic clang of the100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡINxGdiuCBD
van's metal body, a relentless soundtrack to his plummeting100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxkFIqxNdkR
despair. Every bump in the road felt like a hammer blow100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZssl05fqH7
against his already shattered confidence. He stared at his100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFT6x0hX9lq
hands, noticing for the first time how shaky they were, how100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEgiKCP3RwS
pale his skin had become. The vibrant, life-affirming colors100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxg2WLdOBwy
that defined his online persona, the joyful chaos of his100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2NvIBOr8vr
fandom, seemed to fade into a dull, lifeless grey. The vibrant100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqZpxjPtzDn
colors were replaced by a sense of impending doom.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6bB2sdNqAz
He tried to remember the words of his lawyer, but they were100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdQaJAEgNFN
already dissolving into a fog of fear and disbelief. He tried to100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk4AxhuS0k3
think about his parents, their faces etched with worry and100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡATIu49LZVT
disappointment. He’d heard their voices in the courtroom,100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoj6xDAkM8w
hushed whispers punctuated by occasional sobs. But the100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8MtY7W6gRI
distance between them, the sheer physical and emotional100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0XZBqofTVM
chasm that separated him from his old life, felt insurmountable. He’d betrayed their trust, their hopes, their100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjplDSGMZEO
dreams. His own dreams.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeyWiAj69r5
The van screeched to a halt, and the heavy metal doors100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIPnK0hjif6
groaned open, releasing a wave of stale, suffocating air thick100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSN2hTya1sM
with the stench of sweat, mildew, and something else…100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXYFWsBwX7c
something acrid and indefinably unsettling. It was the smell100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4pHXuIsk9v
of fear, he realized with a shudder, the smell of desperation100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnm8okFxYNd
and despair. It was the odor of Martin Correctional, and it100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyNFU2V0Xq1
clung to everything, a suffocating blanket of hopelessness.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡto0Ov4p4aF
The prison was a concrete labyrinth, a maze of corridors and100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy1GUgIG8cS
cells that seemed designed to disorient and demoralize. The100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrdlfuLFr2d
sounds were a cacophony – the rhythmic clang of metal100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzy1EPc6882
doors, the shouts and threats of inmates, the distant thud of100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBtDmMGUNDD
fists against flesh. The air hung heavy with the weight of100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpmcfr0kSta
violence, both present and past, and every shadow seemed to100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLUbWcfOTxk
conceal a potential threat. The fluorescent lights seemed dim100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPHHKpE21Q8
and incapable of penetrating the darkness that permeated100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDoNqLiOPA8
every corner. It was a place where hope seemed to wither100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOhAifNtpb5
and die, where the only currency was violence and brutality.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1vWjlA2lhH
He was a stranger in this world. He didn't know the rules. He100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8SJkUcuQvn
didn't know the players. He was alone.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrcWZdXtrUi
He was stripped, searched, and processed, each step a further100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqBheZSG6Yi
degradation, a stripping away of his identity, a reduction to100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN4WeUmWMvE
the lowest common denominator: a number, a prisoner, a100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ11GgGQBlzu
potential victim. The guards were indifferent, their faces100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfBkezEklb4
hard and unreadable, their movements efficient and100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1YfVLsGSd8
emotionless. They were cogs in a machine, and he was100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡScxVyp7b3L
merely another piece of raw material being processed by the100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4w8XrPs06Y
system. He was stripped of his clothes and individuality.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIkbr883X0U
As he was led down a long, dimly lit corridor, the reality of100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv6ZEf8rqV9
his situation began to sink in. The fifteen-year sentence100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKiAZtZ8qP2
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNZXzRMzKgw
grim beginning of his new existence in the abyss of Martin100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRY2Ldz9N8e
Correctional, a prison where survival was a constant100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdVS5bf6Hrc
struggle, and where even the slightest misstep could prove100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhHLhMEGIO6
fatal. He was a newcomer to the game, and he had yet to100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡELRjpE5qQ1
learn the rules, even to understand what the game actually100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkaExxc1l5a
was. The future remained a dark, unknown road, where100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIkmTKmJoL8
every step felt dangerous and uncertain. The fear was real100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDCQnsnGT6z
and visceral. He had no idea of the kind of transformation100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzGhKf66RBe
this place was capable of fostering.
ns216.73.216.69da2
