The Empty Room

An inmate talks about his experience in a new solitary confinment center

Yeah, I know what you’re thinking, but sometimes first impressions can be misleading, "The Empty Room" is not the walk in the park that it appears to be. Why should it? Isn’t that the whole point of punishment? Is it justice that transgressors enjoy five-star accommodations, whilst their luckless victims are left to die in the gutter? I think not.

 

But then again, that's just me. Perhaps over the course of the past... well, however long I've been here I may have developed what some may describe as rightwing views. Yeah, now there’s one for the books- a degenerate scoundrel from the Tunnel Web Gang spouting off about law and order.

 

That's right, the Tunnel Webs. If you had bothered to check my rap sheet you’d have been aware that I am no stranger to incarceration, it's one of the major prerequisites for joining our gang...but The Empty Room, well it's different.

How? Take a good look around. What do you see - a large windowless gymnasium. Note the absence of furniture, save the lifeless matress where I eat, sleep and sit on all day every day  

 

You may also have noticed that there are no clocks and I don't wear a wristwatch. They confiscated it, so time stands still in this room. I’ve lost count of the days and not sure how long I have been here, or how long I have until my release.

 

There's no TV or Radio either, but there is a list of books to choose from. So far I have read three novels and have just started the first few chapters of Slumdog Millionaire.

 

A tray slips through a slot in the sealed door three times a day, once for breakfast, then lunch and finally dinner. Alcoholic beverages and smoking are strictly prohibited. They don’t even serve coffee; only fruit-juice, Milo, herbal tea or water. Failing that you can pout and die of thirst.

 

In hindsight stabbing the warden may have been an over-reaction when idle threats would have sufficed. But that's all academic now. Can’t change the past you know. Anyhow, it gave the screws an excuse to test drive this vast solitary confinement complex and I was their guinea pig. My predicament is meant to serve as a warning to other inmates that may harbour similar malevolent ambitions.

 

So the big question is, has this experience helped me see the error of my ways? I’ve had ample time for reflection and to form conclusions without distraction. There’s no doubt that I have calmed slightly since being put in here, but as they say a leopard seldom changes his spots. Anyway, I have my doubts that they seek reformations.

 

After all, it would be self-defeating to construct a multimillion-dollar facility then go out of your way to ensure the prisons were free of transgressors.