The Prison - Part 1

It was my time.

I marched on ahead of the watchman who had come for me. The morning had been strangely smooth, as though rehearsed. I’d gotten dressed, eaten breakfast with my family, and gone outside to start work.

And there he was.

“John Barnhill?” He asked, but I knew it was more of a statement.

“I am he.” I replied.

“I have come for you.” He said simply.

“May I say goodbye to my family?”

“You may. Not everybody is granted that request, but since you are so close to home, you may.”

I called inside for my family. They rushed out, hearing the urgency in my voice. They stopped short when they saw the watchman, but then my father rushed to my side and grasped my hand.

“Son, listen to me. Do you know the way to escape the Dragon?”

“Yes sir, the Rock will save from the Dragon.”

“Do you believe that?” He asked, his face pale, and somehow fading.

“Yes, of course.” I replied, squinting as he seemed to become transparent.

“No, no, John, that’s not what I mean. Do you believe that?”

“Yes.” I replied.

My father smiled, and then faded away as if a mist. The rest of the world remained completely visible, but looking around, the villagers, my family, and all other living things faded away, except the watchman. I turned to him, he motioned down the street with his hand, and I began walking.

Nobody knew the way to the prison, but everybody knew it existed. Nobody exactly knew what it meant, but that didn’t stop stories from being told. Everybody went to the prison eventually, but nobody had ever come back.

Many people fought the watchmen when they came, but it never stopped them, and the only result was that the unfortunate prisoner was dragged away, usually crying miserably. I had purposed long before to not go in such a way as that.

Some said the prison was really a paradise, which is why nobody ever came back. Others shuddered and said it was full of torture chambers, where all of our life crimes were paid for. Others still declared adamantly that there was nothing at the prison – just blackness where the prisoners slowly faded into nothing. But in my heart, I knew what the prison held.