I had spent 10 years rotting in that prison, and I was eager to finally be done with my sentence. The sunlight nearly blinded me, and seemed so much realer than the view I ever got from the jail yard. It must have been brighter from the sunset.
I would be 38 in two days, and I was glad to have one birthday that wouldn't be celebrated with a stale brownie and a cup of kool aide. The new shoes I had been wearing when I was arrested, felt as good as the last time I remembered them, and I let them carry me comfortably to the bus stop.