The Cellblock

As I was lead through the cellblocks, I still wasn’t sure what my crime was. No one had ever told me. It wasn’t long before I noticed that it wasn’t exactly a normal prison. Almost all of the prisoners seemed to be women. They were wearing the latest fashions, putting on makeup, and mostly acting like stereotypical normal women, if not for the cells they were within. As I was brought further in, things got bleaker. There were more men; the women seemed more butch. A few sneered at me.

As the guard sifted through his keys, we paused in front of a padded cell with a glass door. The woman inside was wearing handcuffs, and she took note of me immediately.

“No matter what they do,” She warned, “Remember yourself. It’s why I’m in this cage, and in this section. Because I refuse to forget. I remember my wife and my children. I remember being a guy like you. I haven’t lost my mind like the others you’ve seen, despite this body.”

Her attitude quickly snapped as she turned to the guard. “LET ME OUT HERE, YOU F*CKING BASTARD! I DON’T CARE WHAT YOU’VE DONE TO MY BODY; I JUST WANT OUT!”

The guard smiled and turned to me, “Your neighbor is one of those ones who never shuts up. The more she resists, the longer she’ll stay. Maybe that’s a good lesson for you.”

I nodded and sat down in my cell as the guard locked the door behind me. After the guard left, the woman in the padded cell spoke again, “He’s not wrong. If you comply, you’ll be out in no time. But at what cost? They’ll turn you into someone you literally no longer recognize, a perfect, pretty woman like the rest of those people out there. It’s a choice, but ask yourself if it’s worth it. Do you want to be a woman and forget who you really are?”