Outline

First version of the outline. Wrote it in about 58 minutes. My fingers were on fire and I was in love with the story.

 The story opens with a man being arrested on a cold snowy night.  They claim he murdered a man and his flintlock was found near the scene. They lock him up for the night. He doesn't sleep, he just stands looking through the bars waiting for the sun. At dawn they take him to the docks where a prison ship awaits to take him and five other men. "You stand accused of murder, what say you?" he's asked. He doesn't answer, he just stands in silence, angry and knowing he'd been framed. Without an alibi he is assumed to plead guilty and is loaded onto the ship where he is taken to a penal island far away. While there he counts away the days and thinks about his decision to stay silent. He knew he could have secured his freedom but it would have cost someone else their freedom or at least their reputation. He spent his last night of freedom with his best friend's wife. Had he admitted that he would have been freed but it would have cost him his best friend, ruined the reputation of his best friend's wife and his best friend would have killed him anyways.

 The story flashes briefly to the woman's perspective of all of this, not on that night of course but the events surrounding it in the days prior and the months after.

 The story then returns to the man. His life in the prison. He's befriended a fellow inmate and shares with him his story of being framed. The inmate shares his story with the man and suggests they escape. They're overheard by a guard who then beats them and separates them throwing the man in solitary confinement. While there his anger and determination grow. When let out he and the inmate are eventually able to speak again. This time there is a third man involved. An inmate who shares a similar story with the man. The trio vow to make their escape in no longer than a month. However, a month later their escape is cancelled by the 'death' of the third man from 'falling' from the prison wall. In his cell the man moves a loose rock in the floor under which he had been hiding a love letter from the woman. The man reads it one more time and looks out through his cell across the ocean.

 The story then returns to the woman's perspective on the same night. A year and some months have passed since the man was taken away and she cries over the loss despite knowing they would have never been able to be together. Her husband enters the scene and makes snide remarks towards her. She asks why he's been so cruel lately. He ignores her and begins to walk away. She tells him if it's because he lost his friend he'll be back some day. She says she knows he'll be found innocent.  When he asks how she knows he's innocent she stammers and says she just knows he would never do such a thing. Her husband continues to walk away. She then turns back and sobs quietly.

 The story then switches back to the man in prison. More months have passed and it's winter again. The inmate he had originally planned his escape with is in ill health. He begs the man to let him die in freedom. He says he doesn't want to be buried in the ocean with the rest of the prisoners. The man tells him that in a few nights they'll escape this time no matter what. The next night the man is woken up by the inmate. The inmate tells him now is his chance and leaves a key by the cell and walks off. The man picks up the key through the bars and eyes it, too nervous to unlock his cell but determined enough to at least try. As he slowly opens his cell door he is alarmed by the sound of the guards shouting not far off. The inmate knowing he wouldn't survive the trip back to the mainland decides instead to give his life as a distraction for the man. The inmate yells to the man that to him real freedom is dying for a cause and then ignites a barrel of powder killing several guards and blowing a hole in the prison. The man makes a run for the hole in the wall but is caught by a force of guards. He is then beaten and the warden says that any other day he would have him hanged and shot but that since today was the new year he would let him live. The man is then beaten again and thrown into solitary confinement.

 The story flashes briefly back to the woman again. She laments to her husband that he no longer loves her. He slaps her and berates her for being 'ungrateful' of his 'love'. She then runs away, out of their home and collapses crying in the snow.

 The story returns to the man. It's the beginning of spring now. He watches as the snow melts and runs off of the roofing of the prison, his own bars still collecting ice. He writes the day on his wall and notes that for a month it has been his only source of clean water and that he'll miss it. He has no one left. His love is a world away, he doesn't trust any of the other inmates, and he despises the guards who now use him as an example to the other prisoners on a regular basis. That night he is approached by three other inmates. At first he questions them on whether or not they were visions or if they were real and meant to kill him. They tell him that they're taking over the prison and want to know if he'll aid them. The man tells them four men can't possibly hope to over throw the guards. They tell him that the guards don't realize there are almost twice as many prisoners as there are guards. The man tells them that he's in and they break open his cell. The four of them then lead other prisoners to the store room where they grab anything they can use as a weapon. They then proceed to riot and quickly begin taking over the prison. However, the guards at the dock leave their post to aid in keeping control of the prison and the man sees this as his chance for escape. He runs down to the dock slipping easily past guards who were focusing on the main riot. As he begins to untie a small boat to take to the mainland he is stopped by two other prisoners who tell him that the tide turned and they're losing the prison. He tells them if they're leaving they have to cast off immediately. The inmates refuse and one hands him the letter he left in his cell and a knife. The inmate then tells the man that he read the note after the man left his cell and tells him to use the knife to take revenge on whoever framed him. They're interrupted by the sounds of guards descending on the docks. The inmate pushes the man into the boat and casts him off and then turn to fend off the guards. As the man rowed away he saw the guards kill then inmates and then aim for him. He ducks to cover from their fire but he is out of range. He rows as hard as he can throughout the night and begins to see land on the horizon shortly before the sun is rising.

 The story then flashes to the man's friend who announces to his wife he's going down to the harbor and that he wouldn't be back until late that night. He mounts his horse and begins to ride away. However, he stops and turns back to her and tells her he knew about her affair with the man. She drops to the ground in shock and fear. He then rides off.

 The story returns to the man. It's the first hours of morning and he's reached shore. He's made it back not far from the docks where he was loaded off the first time. He struggles onto land, weak from both his time in prison and his night of rowing. He collapses in an alley next to vagrants. He is awoken shortly after by one of the men asking him why he was dressed as a prisoner. Afraid, he grabs his knife and holds it at the man. The man falls back and begs the man to let him live. The man asks if he had clothes the man could change into. The vagrant runs and brings back rags of clothes. The man changes into them and thanks the vagrant. The man then stumbles out of the alley and through the streets. As guards pass his becomes afraid but as they walk by and ignore him he realizes that word hadn't reached the mainland from the prison. He continues on through the street and happens to see a face he thought he'd never see again.

 The story then turns to the friend's perspective. He's speaking to a merchant when he hears the man yelling his name. He turns and is met by the man nearly collapsing on him and telling him how much he missed him. The friend then picks the man up and asks what he's doing there and that he heard the man had killed someone. The man pleads with him that he was innocent and that someone had framed him. The friend tells the man he knew he had to be innocent and tells the man to wait there that he would be back with someone who would be overjoyed to see him.

 The story flashes to the woman's perspective. After pulling herself together and pacing her home she decides to run to her husband and beg his forgiveness.

 The story returns to the man who after waiting for some time sees his friend returning with guards. The man pleads with his friend to believe him and asks why he told the guards. The friend whispers to him that he knew about the man and his wife and that he was the one who framed the man. Something breaks in the man and he lets out a cry and tackles the friend to the ground. The two begin to fight and a familiar calls out from the crowd.

 The story turns to the woman's perspective. She yells for them to stop. The man looks up at her but the friend takes advantage of the distraction and overtakes the man. The friend is beating the man and the woman tries to make her way to them to attempt to pull them away from each other but is held back by the guards who are apparently enjoying the spectacle. She yells for her husband to please stop. The man pulls out the knife that he had hidden in his belt and stabs the friend in the side. The friend yells and backs off of the man who then overtakes the friend again. The friend pulls the knife from his side and cuts the man down his back and the man falls back from the friend. The friend once again has the man on the ground.

 The story switches to the friend's perspective who, as he has the man on the ground, tells him that he's been hoping for the man's death over two years but never thought he would be the one to cause it. He then tries to stab the man but the man grabs his arm and begins forcing the knife away. However, the friend slowly forces the knife closer and closer until it begins going into the man's chest. The man yells and uses all his force to push the friend back and punches the friend in the faces.

 The story switches to the man's perspective who as the friend is stunned by the blow grabs the knife and stabs the friend in the chest. They both collapse on the ground, the man trying hard for breath and the friend gasping and grabbing at the knife.

 The story then switches to the woman. As both men lay on the ground the guards begin moving the crowd along and call for someone to get the bodies. The woman is able to run over to the men. She kneels beside her husband and grabs the knife. Crying she says 'You've always had a cruel heart.' She then pushes the knife deeper and leaves him. She then turns to the man who is reaching out for her. She sits and holds his head and hand. Crying she says 'I knew you would return.' He tells her he counted the days and tells her with each tally she became increasingly beautiful. She smiles through her tears and kisses him and the man collapses.

Author's Note

First version of the outline. Wrote it in about 58 minutes. My fingers were on fire and I was in love with the story.