The cell door slammed behind him like an exclamation point. He shuddered as he felt the vibrations go through his body. He was finally free after serving five years for a crime he didn’t commit. He followed the corrections officer through the outtake area, changing from the bright orange jumpsuit that had been his daily apparel into the suit he wore on the last day of his trial.

Another officer handed him a large plastic bag which contained his belongings. He fished out his wallet, his silver Movado watch, his wedding band and his diamond earrings. After putting on his jewelry, he inspected the contents of his wallet. All of his credit cards and his drier’s license had expired.

“What happened to the cash I had in here,” he asked of one of the guards. They looked at each other and shrugged. Then they both let out a chuckle. He could feel his temperature rising as the anger built up inside of him. Every fiber of his being wanted to choke the life out of the two men, but he resisted the urge. He sat down on the metal bench to re-lace his Salvatore Ferragamo shoes and slip them on his feet.

Once he was dressed, the guard behind the counter had him sign some forms. When he was done, the guard handed him a check. He quickly scanned the check and was outraged by the amount.

“Three hundred and sixty-seven dollars! I had over five hundred in my wallet when I came into this hell hole!”

Once again, the guards looked at each other and had a laugh at his expense. He let out a low growl as he folded the check up and slid it into his pocket. He continued following the guard to the warden’s office.

The warden thanked him for being a model prisoner and asked what he planned to do once he returned home. He shrugged at the question. In all honesty, he hadn’t given it much thought. He was just happy to be getting out.

After his meeting with the warden, he was ushered outside and onto a prisoner transport bus. Even though he was a free man, he had to ride like an inmate back to the city. “Small price to pay for getting the hell out of here,” he said to himself as the guard shackled him to the prisoner beside him and the floor of the bus.

With a sudden jerk, the bus was in motion. The large, steel doors opened up in front of them and the bus barreled down the gravel road. He closed his eyes and allowed himself to daydream of embracing his wife and children.

He was startled back to reality by the sound of a guard banging his baton against the cell door. “Lights out, inmate,” the guard yelled. He sat up in his bunk and took in his surroundings. He swung his feet out of his bunk and placed them on the cold cement floor.

“I remember my first day in here,” his cell mate said from the bunk above him, “I tried to sleep it all away too, tell myself it was just a bad dream.”

He let out a heavy sigh as he took off his orange jumpsuit and climbed back into bed.

“How long you in for?”

As he rolled over and closed his eyes, he said, “Five years.” As the lights turned out, tears freely flowed down his cheeks.