Opportunity

Prison is tough.

I am just an average guy with no muscles or stamina, so I couldn't keep up with the high intensity workload here.

After Wisaith left, slowly and quietly, the memories of Hannah flowed back into my mind. I spent those days cursing the worst possible things you could imagine. My mind was sinking deep in the pool of hatred. At times, I knew that I should move on and that hating on what has already happened can't improve my current situation, but it is easier said than done. The pool of hatred isn't made up of water. No, it is made of glue and slime, substances that are sticky and slippery. The pool make its best effort so that anyone who is unfortunate enough falls in it, they will stay there. Like a quicksand, the pool doesn't care about how you feel. Are you still hating? Cool, stay in the pool. You want to get out? No! You stay in the pool! Slowly and effortlessly, the pool will consume you. It will swallow you whole until you realize that the surroundings have become nothing but darkness. That will be when you completely give up and do nothing but cry for your cruel life.

But it is not impossible to escape the pool. Like quicksand, there are tricks and methods for you to stay a float and swim back to land. I was one of those people that are lucky enough to learn or figure out how to get out of the pool.

Even though my anger at Hannah was unbearable, I was conscious about the fact that I can't change what already happened. So I constantly tried to find ways to distract myself. The heavy workload definitely helps. Working 10 hours plus in extreme weather made you can't think of anything else but wishing to jump into bed.

Thinking optimistically also helped. I didn't see prison as a punishment, but instead, I viewed my time there as an opportunity to cleanse my mind. Sure, prison is always crazy and there are fights and arguments. But I was able to distance myself from those negative things and created a world of my own.

I got picked on at times. Instead of fighting back, I would just try my best to block the incoming attacks and wait for the guards to resolve the situation. This doesn't mean that I was a coward, however. I never lowered myself to the leaders when they ordered me. Maybe because of my peaceful but resistant trait that eventually, they gave up on picking on me because they knew they would just waste their time and energy. From then on, I was able to focus on my anger management.

Working in the garden helped me develop a stronger connection with nature. Seeing how the plants grow from tiny little seeds to green and beautiful vegetables. It made me at times have second thoughts about whether I should harvest them. They are like my child.

In this prison, the food will be prepared by the prisoners themselves. So that was when I got first introduced to cooking. And like unlocking a new chapter, I got hooked on cooking and would volunteer every time to work in the kitchen. Seeing my excitement for cooking, the instructors eventually got nicer to me and they taught me everything they know. One thing led to another, the prisoners slowly got their interest in cooking too and once a week, we secretly had a cooking contest in the back of the kitchen. From those contests, I found that many of the other prisoners were very talented and some even had experience working at high-end restaurants. We spent our time discussing food and creating new dishes. Now thinking back, those were good times.

Wisaith visited me pretty often as he promised. About once every month or two, he came to tell me his teaching experience. I enjoyed every moment with him. His way of talking never bored me and he always made me laugh when it was unexpected.

"I think this is my destiny, Sin," Wisaith said.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Being a teacher. I don't think I can stop to do anything else," he replied.

"You are really suited to be a teacher then if you love it that much," I smiled when I heard that.

"Yeah," he smiled back. "I just regretted not doing this earlier."

At that moment, my eyes blurred as I tried to hold back the emotions. "At least you didn't miss it."

"That is true," Wisaith nodded. Then, he raised his head and gave me eyes with intentions. "Sin, do you have any interest in teaching?"

I raised my eyebrows because that question was out of nowhere. So it took me a while to think. "Uh… I did mentored a bit during college. It wasn't bad."

"What is your opinion on being a teacher?" he gave another one.

"Someone who teach students how to learn," I replied without hesitation.

Wisaith gave me a surprised expression. A brief silence went by. He closed his eyes and seemed to be in deep thought. Because I just got back from work, I passed out quickly. "Sin," Wisaith finally said something.

"Yes sir!" my usual instinct acted as if a guard just called me. "Oh, sorry for being loud," I was dying from embarrassment and quietly sat back down.

"Do you want to be my assistant when you get out?"