by Jason Rosamilia
There once was an island, and on this island was a prison. Its walls were high, and thick, and it was a hopeless place. It was hopeless because every man there deserved to be there. For, they had all been tried by The Good Judge, found guilty, and justly sentenced to a life in prison.
This story focuses on one particular prisoner, on one particular night. His name is Silas. And this night, during dinner, the warden of the prisoner came to Silas and shouted:
“Silas! You’re to have a visitor tonight!”
A visitor? Silas thought. That’s strange, who would want to visit me? No one ever got any visitors in this place, and at first, Silas was excited. But the more he thought about it, the more that excitement turned to anxiety. Who would want to visit me? He had no friends left on the outside, and surely none of his family would want to see him in a place like this. Maybe he had left some debt unpaid, something he owed and had forgotten, and someone was coming to collect.
That night, when the prisoners retired to their cells, Silas cellmate was able to get to sleep just fine, but not Silas. His mind raced as he paced around his cell, watching the sun disappear from the small window at the top of his room, and the stars begin to come out. Minutes turned into a half hour, half hours into hours, and the night dragged on. It got so late that Silas began to wonder if there would even be a visitor, or if Warden hadn’t just been yanking his chain to get him riled up.
But that’s when he heard it. The distinctive thump, thump, thump, of boots walking down the hall toward his cell. Silas huddled in the back of his room as the steps grew closer, and closer, hand covering his face in fear, until finally he heard them step right in front of his door. Hazarding a glance, Silas cracked his fingers open…and the man he saw standing on the other side of those bars, he recognized, for Silas had seen him but once before: at his very own sentencing.
It was The Good Judge.
Rising, Silas cautiously stepped toward the Judge, noticing the man was holding an envelope between the bars. As Silas approached, the Judge spoke:
“Silas, meet me at the docks at sundown.”
The docks at sundown? Even more confused now, Silas took the envelope with wary hand. Trying to tuck his thumb under the edge, he couldn’t quite get it open because his hands were shaking, so instead he just ripped one end of it off, and into his hands dropped its contents.
It was a blood red Key. It was heavier than it should have been for something of its size, and Silas did not need anyone to tell him that this Key would open any door, lock, or shackle he would find in this prison. He knew that this Key meant freedom.
Turning his attention back to The Good Judge, he was not quite sure how the Judge had obtained this Key, but he knew two things to be true: first, he knew the Judge to be a good man, so whatever the means had been, he knew they were right and legal, and second, he could tell by the look in the Judge’s eyes that this Key had cost him a lot.
The Good Judge spoke again:
“And Silas, take as many of the others with you as you can.”
And with that, the Judge turned, and walked away, the thump, thump, thump, of his boots fading back into the night.
Key in his hand, Silas could hardly believe it. He now held his freedom, his salvation! What was it the Judge had said? “Meet me at the docks at sundown.” Yes, yes, and: “take as many of the others with you as you can.” Of course! I mean, why wouldn’t he? If he had this Key, why wouldn’t he free everyone from this horrible prison! He could start with his cellmate for one, he was sleeping right there.
Excitedly, Silas walked up to him, but riiight as he was about to shake him awake, he pulled back. I mean, it was pretty late already, and he knew his cellmate had just had a long day, plus he would need his energy anyway for their big escape tomorrow, and he’d have plenty of opportunities before sundown to let him know. No, tomorrow, Silas decided, tomorrow he would tell his cellmate, and then the rest of the prison, and then they would all have their freedom.
So, placing the Key in his breast pocket, Silas went to his own wooden bunk, and fell asleep.
The next morning, Silas awoke to a guard banging on his bars:“Silas! Up for breakfast!” Silas got up, patting himself down to make sure the Key was still there. It was. It had been no dream.
Glancing around his room, he saw his cellmate had already left for breakfast. It was no problem though, he could tell from his window that the sun was just beginning to come up, so he would have plenty more time before sundown to his cellmate, and everyone else for that matter. Right now, he had to head off to the mess hall for breakfast.
As Silas stood in that line, tray in hand, and waited for the usual schlop they served in this prison, it struck him that he didn’t seem to mind the food quite so much, knowing that it would be one of the last times he’d ever have to eat it. After getting his meal, he went and sat down at a table with the usual men he sat with, who were having their usual mundane morning conversation. Silas was eager to share the news of the Key and their imminent freedom, waiting for the perfect moment to interject! But ya know, a funny thing happened during the meal, that perfect moment which Silas was waiting for, it never really came up, and before he knew it, the men were getting up from their finished meals, and turning to return their trays.
“W-wait!” Silas shouted after them, but they were already walking away. And while maybe Silas could have run after them, he wasn’t too broken up about it, it was still just breakfast anyway, and he’d surely have another opportunity to share about the Key with them.
Next on the schedule was work detail, and on this island, they dug a lot of ditches. So grabbing a shovel, Silas went off to work. And as he dug, he noticed that he didn’t mind the work so much, knowing it would be the last time he’d ever have to do it. In fact, he found that he almost kinda liked it, and started to get into it as he dug away. There were a few other men around him also working who he maybe could have shared the Key with, but kinda wanted to really get down how exactly he would go about presenting this Key to folks when he talked to them. It would be a little awkward to just walk up and go “Hey, here’s this magic key that we can all escape with!” Plus, what if one of the nearby guards overheard him? So instead, Silas just continued to dig, thoughts to himself, as the sun slowly continued to crawl across the sky, to a little past mid day.
After a few hours of hard work, Silas finally had a little free time, and he decided to try and catch up with his cellmate, so he headed back to their cell, hoping to find him there. Unfortunately, his cellmate’s bunk was still empty, but Silas’s, well it was there too, and it looked kinda inviting. In fact *yawning* Silas had been working hard himself, and he decided, just as he waited until his cellmate came back, that he’d lay down on that bunk of his, stretch out, and just take a short little nap as waited. And so, Silas did.
And he slept.
And he slept.
And he slept.
Aaand he slept.
Silas awoke with a start. He was groggy, and he could tell by the feeling in his head the crick in his back that he had far, far over slept. Glancing around the cell, he noticed his cellmate’s bunk had been rearranged, but the man himself was nowhere in sight, so Silas must have missed him while napping. He could see through his window that the sun was goin down, its last light just barely coming through, and that-
The sun was going down.
“Meet me at the docks at sundown, and take as many of the others as you can.”
The day had gone by, and the sun was almost down.
Silas didn’t have to find his cellmate anymore, now, he just had to move. Bolting toward his cell door, for the first time since the night before, Silas took out the Key, and fumbled with the lock. Slotting it in, he turned it, and was rewarded with a satisfying click as the door swung open. So, Silas ran through the prison, unlocking every door in his was as he pushed forward, leaving other cells and prisoners still locked behind him. He knew the way to the docks, it was a left, then a right, then, yes, another left, and there! There, right ahead, he could see one final barred door, and out beyond that? Yes, he saw what looked to be the light of a ship waiting there, at the docks.
And right as Silas was about to reach that final door, out in front of him stepped a prisoner who everybody in the prison knew as Lil’ Slim. Now, if you were to take one look at Slim, two things would become immediately apparent. He was neither ‘lil,’ nor was he very ‘slim.’ In fact, he was a hulking brute of a man, with a terrible reputation, and with a voice like gravel, he spoke:
“Hey Silas, where you going?”
Silas froze. Well, here was this man, maybe he could share the Key with Slim? B-but, Slim was dangerous, unpredictable. What if he got violent, tried to take the Key away from Silas, or alerted the guards? No, made up his mind.
“It’s nothing Slim,” Silas said, as he tried to get past.
But again, Slim blocked his way, “I don’t believe you. Hey, what’ve you got there?”
Again, Silas decided. “It’s NOTHING Slim!” He shouted, pushing past the man, and breaking for the final door. Silas unlocked it, running for the docks.
He was running down the docks now, ship ahead of him, running, he jumped…and when Silas hit the deck of that ship, a peace washed over him. He felt the boat pull away, leaving Slim, prison, and prisoners behind. And as Silas slowly rose to his feet, standing before him was The Good Judge, and there was kindness in his eyes. But looking around, he noticed other men aboard the ship, men who The Good Judge must have visited the night before as well, giving them Keys of their own. And with those men, were yet more men, men who those first prisoners mast have shared their Keys with…and then Silas looked around himself, and he saw that he was alone.
Why?
Why did he not tell his cellmate, or the others, or Slim?
Why had he valued his own convince and comfort above the very salvation of his fellow prisoners?
He had had that Key in his pocket all day. Why had he not shared it?