What do you do with a guy who won’t come out of his cell? What do you do when you make your rounds, peer into that slim rectangular window, and see a single empty bed with a semi-exposed mattress? Do you lengthen your routine beyond the usual intervals? Your partner draws nearer, squeezing her face into that same rectangular frame. She asks, “Do you see how the blankets are pulled in?” You nod yes. She tells you about another man who cuts himself open and pulls out his intestines. But this guy’s different; they call him the Cocoon Man. He’s in there, in the mattress, in his safe place where he relieves himself, where he sleeps. He’ll come out occasionally when he’s hungry.What do you do? What does anyone do?
They keep him in prison. They feed him. They give him a foam mattress.
10 comments:
which he wraps himself in and becomes larvae... Wow. enjoyed the read. MW
That's pretty darned strange JR. Does he belong in a prison or a mental institution, one wonders...
I guess there's nothing the system can or will do. He's sick - and coping as best he can.
This man needs to be in a psychiatric hospital. He is so withdrawn into himself that he's lost touch with all reality. I feel pity for him. I don't know you you do it day after day. I give you a lot of credit for what you do.
You don't make waves, you don't move outside the norm and draw attention to yourself, you don't worry about him and you move on to the next cell to look in at...
You draw yourself in to your own cocoon and relieve yourself by reminding your self that you only have X amount of years to go before there is a pension.
Social workers and cops come across the same thing.
I have worked in hospitals.
The guy with the caved-in face after botching a suicide with a shotgun. Tell him Don't worry, be happy?
We in the middle are just plain lucky. Take up creative writing as an elitist passtime. And still we rail.
Jesus...
Wow. That is a powerful picture. It makes me wonder who he is and what he has done. I like how you portray it much better, though. I like knowing the prison workers' side of the story. This is the only place I can come on a regular basis and read about the workers and everything they (you) have to deal with. I really respect that. It also makes for some powerful writing. Excellent, JR.
I'm with Catvibe. Or as Bob Dylan jives, "It's All Good!"
You pray for him. And hope that his next life, although guided by this one, is more fulfilling. You just hope for the best. Follow procedures. But do so with an open heart. D
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