PRISONER EXPRESS

My dependency on books as magic tickets of the mind has grown to outrageous proportions. Only through reading can I escape my stark surroundings and be free for a time. They carry me back in time as well as into the future. Miles become nonexistent before the enchantment of the turning pages. They are even able to take me deep within another's intellect and show me the inner-workings of their thoughts.

Of all the places books give me entry to it is quite a surprise to find my favorite so easy to pick. "Redwall Abbey," in the forest of "Mossflower," is a fantasy world created by Brian Jacques and my favorite place to hide when the harshness of the world I live in is getting the better of me.

Prison is a world of constant pressures and time gets the better of all who dwell there. It is the little moments of dehumanization, being strip searched or having your property searched at the whim of guards that seem to receive sadistic pleasure from enforcing any rule in a way that is most likely to make a prisoner suffer, that take a toll. Having no privacy that cannot be invaded, nothing is sacrosanct to our keepers. They revel in moments when they ravage our papers and rape our thoughts. Why are they surprised when we develop deep hatreds and react violently?

On those days when the vagaries of life have pushed me beyond my limit I dig through my library in search of escape. The "Redwall Series" has become a special place that consoles my spirit and restores my sanity.

It is a world of honor where friends put their lives on the line for each other. There are no humans, but the animals reflect human traits. In "Redwall Abbey," there are only good and "gentle beast." The moles, mice, otters, hedgehogs, squirrels, shrews, voles, and even "badger mums," who rule in their kindly fashion, have come to represent all that is wonderful in mankind to me.

As in the real world evil exists, represented by a pantheon of creatures; stoats, weasels, rats, ferrets, foxes and wolves symbolize the war mongers and pirates of the corporate dominated world we live in. They see themselves as smart and think those who act with kindness out of self-motivation weak. Much like their counterparts in our own world, they never realize that all the good things they covet are being destroyed by their actions. All they ever get for their trouble at "Redwall Abbey" is the scornful contempt of every "beast."

When I open up one of these magic tickets of the mind I'm soon lost in my fantasy of escape. Some might revere the warriors who serve so honorably and are truly glorious; others might find an affinity for the evil "beast." As for me, having been a bit of a weasel in reality, I find all I want to be is an orphan "dibbun," maybe an otter, sitting high on a "badger mum's" lap, safe and protected from the world, while she tells me a story and feeds me "candied chestnuts" or, being an otters, some "hotroot and shrimp soup."

Since discovering this special world I have used up most of the existing tickets. It is my hope that Mr. Jacques will be able to keep up with my need for a place to escape to. Each new book is better than the last. Having just finished Taggerung, I must await my next pass to adventure beyond these walls that hold my body bound. Until it comes I will have to be satisfied with searching for a new favorite place, at least a substitute, where the pains of life can be better borne or forgotten. Surely there exists another as safe. It's just a matter of exploring all the possibilities and finding it.