Walls

A small, stream of consciousness story.

Clank. The door shuts. An alarm goes off in the distance.

“Hey.” A man stops.

“Let me tell you something. I have a little confession. That's right.”

“Lights out!” From a distance. Lights flash out. Doors shut.

“I want to be you.” He sighs.

A man grins. “You wanna be me, huh?...You know what? I welcome ya to it.”

“I'm so tired. I'm tired of trying. I'm tired of the walls. The lies. Fear.” He breathes. “The death.”

“I'm so tired.” He breathes.

A man walks into a room. He breathes. Oxygen flows. A door shuts. Locks.

“So, what have we learned? What's the lesson for today? That morality is transient? That to be honest, is to be flawed? That the giving and taking of love both debases and elevates us? Answers to questions...we dare not even ask.

“The story is simple. A man lives in prison. And dies. How he dies, that's easy. The who and the why is the complex part. The human part. The only part worth knowing.”

Author's Note

Somewhat relates to my short story, "Within the Cage." That's a connection you'd have to make for yourself.