PRISON ESCAPE

By Mike Warner
Born 1938, M, from Canon, GA, United States
Author Profile

PRISON ESCAPE

By Michael D. Warner Copyright 2013 by Michael D. Warner all rights reserved.

As mentioned in an earlier story, inmates do all the work at a federal prison, including
plumbing, carpentering, cooking, cleaning, painting, brick/block laying, clerical and
more. Okay, prisoner Mel Carp (not his real name :) was a pretty good typist. (This is
one decade before dawning of the computer age.) Mels daily prison job was in the main
prison office. One of his duties was sending and receiving messages and taking care of
the teletype machine. Back then, all of law enforcement was connected by nationwide
teletype.

For those of you unfamiliar with that machine, it's basically a typewriter connected to a
telephone line. One can type directly on it and a message goes out character by
character to whatever destination is selected. This is called the "on-line" mode.
Nowadays, we would consider the transmission speed extremely slow, like about 10
characters per second max which would be about 100 baud (bits per second). This is
about 125 words per minute, 5-letter words. A really fast teletypist can crank out only
about 48 words per minute and that would be considered a streak.

For some reason (cost, I would imagine) all teletype paper is yellow and a bit coarse in
texture. Now, because using the "on-line" mode ties up a phone line for as long as it
may take to type out a wordy message, most operators use the speedier method of first
typing in the "off-line" mode, which only cuts a "tape" of the message.

Teletype tape is baudot coded which is a grouping of holes (up to five per character) in a
series length of paper tape, about 5/8 inch wide and stored on a roller/spool on the side
of the machine.

So, one goes clickety-click on the keyboard and "cuts" a tape of the characters. Upon
completion, the operator checks his tape (yes, I can still read baudot) for errors then
places it into the card "reader", pushes a "send" button, and waits for the system to
come around to call his machines "turn" whereupon the reader pulls the tape through a
slot in which small electrical signals are switched on and off by the holes in the tape,
thus sending a five-bit character, one at a time. When typing in the "off-line" mode, you
also can have the machine produce a paper copy just like when one is typing upon a
regular typewriter.

Incidentally, this is where the term "wire services" originated, because all news media
was hooked to UP/UPI or AP/API or whatever, like the BBC / etc via teletype (the wire).

Whenever a federal prisoner is released from prison, the orders come in to the prison
office via teletype from that judge's federal marshal's office. (By the way, federal
marshals work for federal courts. That is basically their reason for existence.) A federal
judge may vacate the sentence, or maybe reduce the sentence to time-served, or
perhaps an appeal is successful and an appellate court orders the lower court to
vacate/etc. Anyway, the judge notifies his marshal and the marshals office takes it from
there. So, the good news for the inmate enters the prison as the sound of a clacking
teletype machine.
All official messaging takes place throughout the bureaucracy using these machines and
it is unusual for one to remain silent during a work day for very many minutes.

The end of the message is usually signalled by a bell, sent by the originator as the last
character along with several line-feeds and a carriage-return so the message rolls up
from the platen and the bell is struck by a little hammer, calling attention. (You can
press "ctrl-g" on your p.c. keyboard except now it only makes a little beep.)

Mel had worked in the prison office for a couple years and was pretty much a fixture
there, typing all sorts of material for all sorts of official reasons. He had become a
reliable asset to the office and everyone knew him.

One day, he came out from the small adjoining teletype room holding a message and
wearing a big smile on his face. He was carrying his just-received release papers. His
judge had reduced his sentence to "time served" or the equivalent and the teletype
indicated it was received from that marshal's office.

Mel was warmly congratulated, given some civilian clothes, a few dollars and a bus ticket
to L.A. where he would continue home via his own transportation methods as a free
citizen.

Mel was escorted to the main entrance, given a ride in a gov't vehicle to town to the
local bus station. And, that was the last anyone ever heard from Mel.

That evening, after transmitting the "count" to Bureau of Prisons (B.O.P.) hq in D.C. the
prison was notified that their "count" was one inmate short. The warden ordered a
recount. (By the way, prisoners are counted six times per each twenty-four hours at
each facility.) This is how they determine when there has been an escape. If one thinks
about it, it's the only way to do it. How else would you know someone's gone?)

The marshal's office also sends a copy of the release to the B.O.P. in D.C. when they
send it to the holding facility and of course, the D.C. office never received said message.

Anyway, Mel's escape must have been the easiest ever performed by a prisoner,
including having the officials provide his ride through the escape-proof heavily guarded
gate, and giving him some assets upon which to get started in his new life.

---- THE END ----

13 Hours Of Lies
By Arsal Shoaib
Born 1995, M, from Lahore, Pakistan
Author Profile

It never feels right once you are travelling alone all by yourself. Although it does show
you some signs of freedom and confidence building, but then again what can you
possibly do over a 13 hour long road trip that very well promises a great deal of fatigue
at the end of it.

This was all going through my mind once I stared at the wrong sights. Waiting in the
lounge of the bus terminal, my wits were in a state of desperation and my eyes counting
the clock ticks as I tried to roll them back to have a glance at my backpack, but they got
caught mid way, completely off guarded when I noticed a girl standing close to me
waiting for me to have eye contact. For an instant I freaked out a bit and unknowingly
winked my way a couple of times followed by my usual gesture of lifting up an eyebrow
every time I find myself in an unwanted situation.

Her finger pointing towards my bag brought me back on Earth and showed me that there
certainly wasnt any Hollywood shooting going on so keep your calm. All what she
wanted from me was to slide my bag away someplace other than the whole seat it was
occupying so that she could find a place to sit and wait for her ride to arrive at the
station.

It did take a while but finally the clock struck 10 of night and I rose up, embarking
myself onto one of the longest trips I'd ever got myself into. Pulling over my head to
check for the number 21, I found my seat with no clear intentions of what to do next.

I was one of the first ones who entered the bus so I had plenty of time to arrange my
personal belongings close to me. With that done, I peeked out of the bus window and
found only the sudden dark with misty winds and bitter cold awaiting me.

So wrapping up a muffler around my neck I was all set to start the endless journey once
and for all. Having found myself so much full of spirits, only one thing turned out
somewhat not according to the plan set out by me.

Seat number 22 belonged to Sofia. Yeah right, this was the name of the girl who had
previously seen sitting beside me in the lounge just a few minutes ago. Although it was
completely a coincidence that a girl got a seat next to me, my mind still raced against
the possibilities of how, out of the entire forty people traveling alongside me, it came
down to this same girl Sofia who found a seat beside me. It was unquestionably beyond
me this time!

Anyway, I didn't freak out too much this time, even though this was the time I should
have been the one freaking out while going through such a phase. Girls were never my
interest from the beginning. No matter theres a good one or a bad one, a gentle one or
a wicked one, a decent one or a naughty one, I would always opt not to think about any
of them for long and would still come out of all these situations without much confusion
and would still be the mamas boy I am rather than what we simply refer to as Johnny
Bravo.

With that being said, I lashed over to my left and glancing out of the misty window pane,
the lights shredder past us as the bus roared across marking the start of a 13 hour long
journey. After almost an hour had passed by and everyone in the bus, in my opinion,
had long been settled into their seats comfortably, I now thought to take my eyes off the
highway which was already blinding me with an unfamiliar contrast of bright lights
covered with dark background, and at once moved my eyes to the person sitting
alongside me.

What I saw completely fascinated me for a while. The girl sitting beside me was playing
Angry Birds on her iPhone while every other person seemed to have slept a long time
ago. I kept watching her play with her delicate fingers sliding over the brightly lit touch
screen, but it was not long once I too, like every other person, started to feel a bit
drowsy.

I stretched up my legs a bit and yawning hard, tried to turn towards the window, when a
sudden voice stopped me from doing so. I turned around and to my surprise it was Sofia
and she was pointing her hand towards her phone asking me to clear for her what was
indeed a fairly difficult stage of Angry Birds.

To this day I still agree that I am not an expert of that game but I remember that in
those days at home, my dads iPad used to stay in my hands all day long and the only
thing I lived for in those days was pretty much Angry Birds. Accepting this as a challenge
I made her cross the difficult bit with quite an ease and then tried to return the cell
phone back to her, but she insisted me to carry on and told me that she would be
measuring up my skills while sitting right there alongside me.

I kept on leaping one stage after another, and quite nervously I must say, when
suddenly something completely out of my wildest imaginations brought me into a state
of sheer panic. It had been almost half an hour since I was playing Angry Birds on
Sofias iPhone when unexpectedly her head dropped over my shoulder and I turned
around not realizing that she had fallen asleep.

Just as I moved out of the way, Sofias eyes awakened from the shallow sleep she was in
and she instantly started apologizing for the scene that had taken place. I on the other
hand tried to calm her down myself and I too was apologizing hard and claiming it to be
entirely my mistake that I rolled out of the way.

It was just then that I saw tears building up inside Sofias eyes and fortunately my quick
reflexes allowed me to come up with a few quick moves getting hold of some tissues, but
in the end still found Sofias not so long lasting weep inevitable. Even after this much of
a big deal, not many eyelids rose up to the occasion and even those who did manage to
wake up for a few seconds never seemed to know what had happened previously.

Gladly, it took just a few more minutes and everything was under control with Sofia
getting her phone back. meanwhile I on the other hand getting hold of my breaths
again. Carrying on with the travel, an exchange of a few smiles passed between the two
of us during the next hour or so, but since I wasnt a girlfriend prospective sort of person
from the beginning these things merely meant a word to me as I had already put on my
headphones at the end of that hour which was full of smirks from both sides.

Just a few melodies later, hunger started to invade my stomach. It had been close to
four hours into the journey and with the clock almost striking 2o clock at that time, I
was honestly very much disappointed with myself, regretting that I didnt have
satisfactory dinner in the night even when I had a vague idea that such a time could
come. Anyhow, to my fortunate luck this starvation started making me more and more
lazy as I found myself sinking into the seat and pretty close to a nights sleep as well.

I woke up two hours later and by looking out from the window, I could easily make out
that the bus was not moving. I looked here and there just to clear up my doubts and in
doing so I saw a small little mart close to the highways vicinity.
Well the night was dark and the cold intense but the glow of the mart was nothing short
of heaven for me at that time so I simply hopped off the bus and raced towards it hoping
that I would be able to get back onboard before it was too late.

The ten minute delay in starting up the engine due to the cold weather was all I needed
to fill my tummy and so we were back on track with the beast of hunger no longer
hovering over me. The fear of starvation was well and truly subsided, but now I faced
another problem which too in all its aspects was quite a big one as well.

Since I was in a rush to make my way out of the bus previously I had placed my iPod
along with the headphones right over my seat, but now once I returned they seemed
nowhere to be found. I could have doubted some passenger travelling along to be the
thief but obviously not many people were awake at that time of the night. Even Sofia,
who was sitting right next to me, was in such a deep sleep that she hadnt bothered to
move even an inch from the position I had left her once I moved out of the bus.

There wasnt much I could do about the loss except for a few desperate search efforts
underneath my seat and on the floor, which I did manage to do, but ended up with not
much hope on my side. Losing such a dear and prized possession never felt right and
with a person like me on the end of it, well it even took away my sleep for the night!

I stayed awake while every other person on board kept filling up their dreams with a
sense of serene satisfaction. At Sunrise Sofia woke up a bit earlier than the rest of the
people and the first thing she did was ask a whirling question that came right onto me.
Hey dude, did you stay awake the entire night?

Yes, but how do you know that? I replied in affirmation. She laughed in reply and
commented on my swollen eyes that told the complete dismal story! There wasnt much
I could do after hearing that from her so I simply laughed along and calmed myself down
abit.

The next hour passed with simple, straight and meaningful questions from both ends. It
was pretty much obvious that both of us were heading for the same direction with every
little interaction, even though my nature never wanted much but still demanded a few
basic questions, which we eventually had to go through.

After the brief session, I slammed my head back on my seat while Sofia delicately took
hold of her phone and took out her own headphones from her pocket. For an instant my
eyes stuck to them as if they belonged to me but I later dragged myself over and shut
my eyes trying to find some sort of sleep of any kind.

A minute later Sofia again chucked me on the shoulder! By then I could make out that
this was more like her habitual act. I turned around and this time she was offering me
one of her headphones to eradicate my sadness. At first I did try to reject the offer and
move on with my sleep and in turn let her have the full fun but some of her words struck
deep enough to influence me in changing my thoughts about the decision.

Well for me, Sharing is Caring, and for your notice, yeah I do intentionally try to care
for people around me, let alone that you are alongside me from the past ten hours or so
and in such a long time I have indeed found you as a really interesting personality and
watching you I think that at least theres somebody in this bus with whom this crazy
nature of mind can coexist and interact with! Sharing a headphone is the least I can do
for you, and in this case, yeah, dont ask me for the most."

Roars of laughter as I smiled in reply, taking one side of the headphone and placing it
over my ear nervously! They say music is a universal language, in knowing about
someones thoughts, ideas and desires, so keeping this in mind the least I could make
up was that Sofia was a belieber for sure. Before every Justin Bieber song she used to
push my shoulder and tell me, thats a good one. Pay your full attention towards it!

At this time we were already lodged onto the final leg of our journey with just three
distant hours separating us and the destination simply known as homeland. So with the
constant stream of minutes running down my mind, I postponed my will of sleep yet
again for sometime, possibly this time till I reach all the way back home.

I easily caught up with Sofias hand swinging here and there when history repeated itself
and I had my shoulder in contact with her face once again. This time I was glad to find
out in time that Sofia had slept on my shoulder and I dont have to act ruthlessly like the
way I did the previous time. Actually this time it all seemed different.

I still say that I am not that kind of a person, but even I couldnt resist moving Sofias
hair away from entering her ears as she placed her head carefully in my lap without
breaking up her sleep. Time kind of stopped and that feeling I still remember was
something unlike any other thing I have ever experienced. This wasnt the kind of stuff I
was familiar with so, for someone like me, it was both unusual yet highly comforting at
the very same time.

Furthermore I could notice some rays of sunlight falling straight into Sofias eyes due to
which she was constantly trying to scrape something off her face, so there I again had to
make her get rid of the discomfort and displeasure by moving the curtain in the way of
light entering the bus from the window. With that done I was myself indulged into the
pleasure of sleep as was seen inclined towards my right and placing my hands over
Sofias shoulders, my need for sleep finally gave way and I too like many other people
finally slept right over the girls shoulder.

The next thing I remember in clear senses were the happenings after the sudden jerk of
the stopping bus which made both me and Sofia wake up in quite a distress. We looked
here and there and clearly the activities showed signs of our journey ending. You might
think that reaching the desired destination it would have been pretty easy for me to
explain my feelings at that time, but fearing that my company with Sofia was not long
lasting anymore, this realization was quite a dreadful one itself.

These were the reasons that forced someone as opposed as I was to this thing, to grab
Sofias hand while she was leaving the bus and request for her phone number. Whenever
I still turn back and look at my life I never thought previously that someone like me
would have ever performed such an act. It just wasnt possible!

Anyway, in reply, there were three things that marked our friendship hadnt dried out
that soon. Firstly, as always listening to what I had to say, Sofia gave me her usual
cuddling smile, and with that she brought her hand out from the pocket and her closed
fist opening in front of me possessed my lost iPod.

Before I could utter a word, she was herself apologizing hard and in a laughing cry she
said, I was waiting for when you would ask for my number so that I could give you back
this possession of yours. I strongly believe in the quotation of 'Better late than Never' so
here you go. Sharing is Caring, hope you remember that lecture of mine!

With that the third and the last thing that happened between the two of us was that she
gave me her phone number to add to my directory and it was as long as when I almost
reached home once I unlocked my iPod and on its screen was a note saying, Best Trip
Of My Life! Everything that happened between you and me was intentional on my part.
You might think that I had slept that much but to be honest, most of the times I was
just challenging my acting skills. Glad to have found out that they arent that lousy.
Anyway its because of you that I enjoyed that much so loads of thanks. I definitely
found a friend I am not going to lose anytime soon!

Reading to that I had already entered my home and with just greetings that went on
between me and my mom, I went straight into my room and lying down, I buried my
face into the pillow remembering all that had happened throughout the journey.
Remembering it all I can safely say that It simply was one hell of a rollercoaster ride for
me at least! I have lied to myself all my life that I will never be that sort of a person
wholl ever be attracted towards a girl, but in the last thirteen hours, like all others, I too
have found out that one individual who means so much more to me apart from being
just a friend!