+ “Dear Mother,” Jontan wrote on a notepad, sitting in the court room. He had nothing to convince the judge otherwise, and neither did his lawyer.

“You were in the wrong place at the wrong time, Jo. It wasn’t you!” He kept telling himself it was going to be over soon. He would go home and let his 3 little dogs outside to play. He would call up his old friend and apologize for the time they never spent together. “Wanna go get a drink?” He’d say, and his friend would agree.

“Jo! Jo!” Jontan soon heard his father’s voice from behind him. “Hurry, son!” He waved his arms, pushing air towards him, wanting to give his son a hug before they took him back. Jo was fingertips away, when they yanked him from his father’s close hands.

Jontan stared at the cops as they cuffed him and took him away. His dad stood behind the railing with his arms hanging. “There goes my son. My only son!” He yelled. The other side of the court clapped in awe as they watched Jo walk away.

About an hour later, Jo changed and was forced into his cell. He pulled the notepad paper out of his pocket. “Dear Mother,” he read. Jontan started to write more, and by the end of his letter, he had written close to 700 words.

The letter went something like…

Dear Mother,

I miss you dearly. I am trapped in this horrific cage. God, I am not a dog! I should not be punished for this! I didn’t do it! I would never hurt Little Henry…

But Mother, you have to get me out of here. Get me away! Tell Father I don’t want to go back with him…I just want to see you again. It’s been years, Mother. Ten years. Please, Mother… for me! For your Jonny.

I beg of you… get me out.

Love, your not-dead son,

Jonny.

Jontan’s letter sat on the table. He put his dull pencil back on the table and plopped upon his rock-like bed. There was an old man across the hall from him. “Hey! You. Old man. Yes, you. How’d you get here?”

“My mother. She was a monster.” He replied.

“I can relate.” Jontan said. “My mother put me in here.”