The Adventures Of Marcel And Mimi Mime
Chapter 5:
Alone In The Night (You Can Scream)
Chapter 5:
Alone In The Night (You Can Scream)
Prison life was even worse than Marcel imagined it could be. Sure, he had spent a month in the county jail, but that was nothing compared with full on prison.
His days were spent working in the laundry facility for pennies on the dollar. They don’t pay much, but they do at least pay something. Marcel was glad of that, because this gave him hope that when he finally got out of this place he would at least have some money to buy food. Something that would have kept him from being here in the first place, had he been so fortunate in the recent past. Pennies are pennies and he was grateful for them.
The other prisoners were mostly not very nice people. Of course that’s no surprise since they were all criminals. But Marcel thought to himself, I’m not like those people, they are all bad people for committing crimes. I’m just a victim of circumstances. Most nights Marcel laid awake thinking this very thought. He wasn’t a criminal, just a victim of… And off to sleep again.
Getting to sleep was the good part. The bad part is that he rarely stayed asleep long, before the screams started. It was all very creepy to Marcel. Every night, he would hear random screams from various cells, up and down the corridors. Some of the screams were of others’ nightmares, and some were of insomniacs who didn’t do well during the nighttime. The nights were the loneliest part.
Have you ever noticed how nighttime brings out one's fears and worries? Apparently, that’s even true with hardened criminals. Marcel wondered, why do the demons only come out at night? These guys were all tough, monsters during the day. But at night, they were as insecure as a tiny little baby.
This is where Marcel decided that he was different. Marcel did in fact find that he spent more time reflecting on things at night, but he was able to deal with it and certainly didn’t find the need to cry out verbally. Of course typically, a good mime would refrain from that anyway. And Marcel was certainly a good mime. Although we was apparently not a law-abiding mime. However, he often reminded himself that his mime skills were not what got him in trouble.
As he pondered this some more, he realized that he doesn’t really have such demons. He had lived a pure and wholesome life up to this point. Well, all except for the part where he broke into the convenience store on Christmas day. But that was not driven by demons. That was driven by hunger. Plain and simple, he was not a criminal. Just a victim of circumst…. Again he was off to sleep.
Day after day and night after night it was the same thing. Wake up to the 5 am wakeup bell, make his bed and get washed. Spend the day in the laundry washing some of the grossest messes off of things. Have dinner, and go back to bed. It was very boring. The days were so long and slow moving. And to make things worse, Marcel didn’t have the foresight when he first arrived, to keep track of how many days were elapsing. So basically, he had no idea how much time he had served or how much he had left to serve. It was horrible.
Gradually, the nights were getting worse and worse for Marcel. The screams were so normal now that several times, he almost caught himself crying out. His demons were surfacing and there was nothing that he could do about it.
Marcel eventually began to realize that the men around him were not that much different from him. He then understood that being a victim of circumstance was nothing more than an excuse. Marcel was coming to the realization that he was responsible for his crime and that he had lost all control of his life instead of stepping up and learning to survive.
Times were very dark. His life had possibly sunken to its lowest point. All he could do was reflect on his past, where he saw all of the best. It felt like his future had left him behind.
His days were spent working in the laundry facility for pennies on the dollar. They don’t pay much, but they do at least pay something. Marcel was glad of that, because this gave him hope that when he finally got out of this place he would at least have some money to buy food. Something that would have kept him from being here in the first place, had he been so fortunate in the recent past. Pennies are pennies and he was grateful for them.
The other prisoners were mostly not very nice people. Of course that’s no surprise since they were all criminals. But Marcel thought to himself, I’m not like those people, they are all bad people for committing crimes. I’m just a victim of circumstances. Most nights Marcel laid awake thinking this very thought. He wasn’t a criminal, just a victim of… And off to sleep again.
Getting to sleep was the good part. The bad part is that he rarely stayed asleep long, before the screams started. It was all very creepy to Marcel. Every night, he would hear random screams from various cells, up and down the corridors. Some of the screams were of others’ nightmares, and some were of insomniacs who didn’t do well during the nighttime. The nights were the loneliest part.
Have you ever noticed how nighttime brings out one's fears and worries? Apparently, that’s even true with hardened criminals. Marcel wondered, why do the demons only come out at night? These guys were all tough, monsters during the day. But at night, they were as insecure as a tiny little baby.
This is where Marcel decided that he was different. Marcel did in fact find that he spent more time reflecting on things at night, but he was able to deal with it and certainly didn’t find the need to cry out verbally. Of course typically, a good mime would refrain from that anyway. And Marcel was certainly a good mime. Although we was apparently not a law-abiding mime. However, he often reminded himself that his mime skills were not what got him in trouble.
As he pondered this some more, he realized that he doesn’t really have such demons. He had lived a pure and wholesome life up to this point. Well, all except for the part where he broke into the convenience store on Christmas day. But that was not driven by demons. That was driven by hunger. Plain and simple, he was not a criminal. Just a victim of circumst…. Again he was off to sleep.
Day after day and night after night it was the same thing. Wake up to the 5 am wakeup bell, make his bed and get washed. Spend the day in the laundry washing some of the grossest messes off of things. Have dinner, and go back to bed. It was very boring. The days were so long and slow moving. And to make things worse, Marcel didn’t have the foresight when he first arrived, to keep track of how many days were elapsing. So basically, he had no idea how much time he had served or how much he had left to serve. It was horrible.
Gradually, the nights were getting worse and worse for Marcel. The screams were so normal now that several times, he almost caught himself crying out. His demons were surfacing and there was nothing that he could do about it.
Marcel eventually began to realize that the men around him were not that much different from him. He then understood that being a victim of circumstance was nothing more than an excuse. Marcel was coming to the realization that he was responsible for his crime and that he had lost all control of his life instead of stepping up and learning to survive.
Times were very dark. His life had possibly sunken to its lowest point. All he could do was reflect on his past, where he saw all of the best. It felt like his future had left him behind.
