Condemnation On Earth - FICTION

The burning sensation was intensifying. Slowly slipping into unconsciousness, all Malik could think of was escaping the gruesome life that existed between the high prison walls. How many times has he wished he was dead? Most of the time he dreamed of the impossible… drinking umbrella cocktails on a white sandy beach, somewhere in Africa, with beautiful women around him. Life had not been fair to him. Once a successful broker at a premier financial institution in downtown New York, he was now serving two consecutive life sentences for taking the lives of his wife and best friend after finding them in bed one evening after work. He’s experience in jail has been a painful one. But what else can he do; but bear the physical and psychological cruelty it offers.

Ten years ago Malik arrived in shackles to the most brutal correctional facility in the world. The institution was home to five thousand of the world’s most dangerous criminals. The first thing that hit him was the stench- the overwhelming, powerful smell of human waste that seemed soaked into every surface of the prison. Inmates ridiculed, poured urine, and threw feces at him as he marched naked to his cell where he would hopelessly spend twenty-four hours in solitary confinement everyday for the rest of his life. Hunger became his constant companion. Gone were the days of dining on the diverse cuisine New York City had to offer, now he subsisted off the molded bread and tasteless meat he was forced to eat.

No matter how hard he tried to fight it, the harsh realities of prison were always there to rudely interrupt his dreams. The reek of rotting food, death, and human waste were constantly there to remind him he was still in hell. As far as Malik was concerned the only way out was dying. Cries of hopelessness and the soft sobs of men forgotten, and branded as animals, filled the corridors of this hell on earth.

After several failed appeals, Malik’s soul had withered. He felt weary to the core of his being. He knew he could carry on no more. The constant fear of being attacked by fellow inmates, or even the guards who were supposed to protect him, had taken its toll. The extent of immorality that occurred within the prison walls had no limit. Inmates were randomly selected, beaten, and raped by prison guards until they are unconscious. During the endless nights, he would sit shivering in his cell, trying to block out screams of anguish from inmates mixed with evil taunts from the perpetrators. The guards also organize “gladiator battles” for members of opposing gangs. Gang members would be locked in the concrete yard and forced to fight to the death, while guards watched on and took bets on who would be the winner. All the rules were different in prison, what was normal on the outside, could easily get someone killed on the inside. It is only a matter of time when social norms cease to matter and survival by any means necessary becomes all that matters.

He could feel the life leaving his body. The makeshift noose, made of bed sheets, was slowly cutting off his air supply. Where is the God Malik had been praying to? Every single day since his arrival, he had bargained with God, begging him to just take his life and end his suffering. But as the years passed by he came to the brutal realization that God did not listen to men like him. Tired of the pain and suffering, the constant noise and fear, Malik had finally decided to take matters into his own hands. As his body became limp and the last bit of life slipped away, Malik was taken back to the white sands of that familiar beach. Sipping on the cool icy drink, the thunderous sounds of the ocean waves grew loud and louder, until he finally surrendered to his dreams.