Perspective

Rain pelts against the stone walls, creating a tapping sound similar to a drum beat. Lightning strikes a nearby pole, well at least that’s what John thought had happened since the minuscule window inside of his cell did not allow for much of a view. Even though this is true John still leaves his tiny bed, groaning under the pressure, to observe one of the few things he still can about the outside world. As John reaches the window another clap of thunder echoes through the city. Craving a cigarette, in a dark moment of his life, he thought maybe it would illuminate something hidden within his life, or maybe just set fire upon his life once again.

John often would be reminded of this sort of nightmare every few days, each time waking up and feeling as though a bolt of energy had run through his body. After this “bolt of energy” awakens John from his slumber he cannot get back to sleep. Many times he will leave his house and go on a long walk to clear his mind because in a house full of bricks not many thoughts can escape from between the mortar. He walks to allow for these depressing and dark thoughts to escape from within his skull, if John had learned anything from being in prison he knew that dwelling on such negative thoughts can have a profound effect on one’s mood/lifestyle.

This wasn’t the only time John would take these long walks alone through his neighborhood which was definitely not the most pleasant part of town but nonetheless allowed him to be alone with his thoughts without distractions or reminders of his static life. As though the simple movement of his body will allow him to become accepting of what his life is and how it became the way that it is. Knowing that all of what has happened and what will happen is all because of his past actions. As a child John’s parents were like anyone else’s. His mother wanted to protect her son and protect the innocence that is only found in youth while his father shared this same belief for John’s adolescent life he soon expected John to put forth in some effort in helping with the families problems. John’s dad lost his job at his factory when he was just entering high school.

His hometown was fairly small, one of those towns that has a decent amount of people while still preserving a small town feel. Many times their town would attract many illegal immigrants looking for work and a place to begin their family with a smaller chance of being caught. Anyway, this factory that John’s father produced was a hog plant which involved dangerous machinery that had the potential of being extremely risky for those of whom who work near the machine. Many times these illegal immigrants could not speak English very well, making it very difficult for them to communicate with the other workers in the factory. John’s father Bill was cleaning out the pig grinder when it happened. When cleaning this machine you must climb down into a small caged pit which is used to cut the hogs feet off, to allow for the machine to be more time efficient five hogs are filtered through on an assembly line to chop their legs off in a quicker fashion. Bill had been late to work and was attempting to catch up on his duties that were supposed to be done before the assembly line started once again so as he was cleaning one of the other workers (who did not speak English) turned on the machine to start their day and when Bill heard the revving of the machine he started yelling for them to turn it off but they could not understand what he was saying or even hear him because of the hum of the other machines in the factory. Bill had almost escaped except his left foot was cut off by the machine and could not be reattached because the machine immediately crushes all body parts that pass through, inevitably losing his job along with his left foot.