#322 – Open a Newspaper…
…and choose a person from a random article. From his or her perspective, narrate the scene that unfolds at the breakfast table when he or she reads this article for the first time.
I sit down with my cereal and pick up the paper. Immediately, my name poops out to me and I instinctively read the article. I can’t help but frown as I recount the event from yesterday. Changing my plea from not guilty to guilty on a break and enter charge made front page news.
I think back to that night in October. How I’d slipped into the house in the dead of night, confident that I could be in and out before anyone even knew I was there. I thought it was going to be so easy. Unfortunately, it never was. I did everything right, like I’d done before countless times before, but these old houses…they’re like alarms in and of themselves. The floor creaked with every movement, each one like a cry for help to its master. I was only inside for a few minutes, but it was enough for a woman to come downstairs.
I panicked and made a break for the door, dropping the DVDs and games I’d snatched up from the living room shelf. I managed to make it out, but I wasn’t fast enough. I guess she’d called the cops before investigating or maybe it was just dumb luck that they were passing by when I came bolting out the door and across the lawn.
Not really sure why I thought I could lie my way through. My lawyer insisted that I plead guilty, maybe get a lesser sentence, but I was adamant that I could beat it. She never got a good look at me and I was half a block away when they picked me up. Still though, there was that nagging doubt. I didn’t want to go to jail longer for lying. That would just be embarrassing.
When the day came for my trial, I told the judge I wanted to change my plea. It was surprising, I guess, but he accepted it. What else would he do? Like he’s going to convince me not to admit my guilt.
Still though, it got me wondering if I could beat it. What if I could avoid jail time? Can I change it again, I wonder? Tell them that I was scared about the evidence stacked against me and that I didn’t want to serve more time for a crime that I didn’t commit? That could work, right?
Yeah…let’s try that…
Behind the Random: Obviously, I don’t really know if he did it or not but when someone admits to a crime, that usually implies that they were responsible for it. Unless they were beaten into confessing to it. Not something my local police force is accused of, really… Personally, I’m of the mind that if you’re caught doing something wrong, own up to it and accept that you were caught. It’s no different than being a kid, if you think about it. If you do something bad and lie about it, you’re in even more trouble than if you come right out and accept it. Silly people and their dogs…
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