Character Guest Post: Five Activities to do in Prison

Transferred from a fictional universe by A.J. Syngraféas.

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I knew this day was coming…the day my author would pop out of nowhere and beg me to write a guest post. Ava and R had their turns so I suppose it’s mine. (They got better subjects to write on, to be honest) When does Luke have to write his blog post anyway? 

My complaining aside, allow me to introduce myself. I’m Elias Atara. R’s older brother who has both a limp and wings. 

A while back, I was thrown in prison by some dictator-like leaders for escaping the city. There is a whole story behind that, but we can skip that and just get on to the main point of my article. While I was in prison I learned there are quite a few things you can do to keep yourself entertained. My author suggested I write them down for you. So, here are my five activities to do in prison…heh…(My author does realize I am still traumatized from this, right? Maybe you guys can convince her to stop pestering me about this…it’s kinda getting old…)

1. Think

If you happen to find yourself stuck in a prison after going on a long, terrible adventure, the one plus about it is that you get a chance to catch up on your life. Adventures cause everything to go at a million miles an hour while prisons offer you the worst way to slow down and think. You get the chance to contemplate your life choices and wonder what would have happened if you had done everything differently. You also get to worry about everyone else in your life, wondering if they are alive or not. 

Overall, this is probably the worst activity to do, so try the others before this one. At first you think that thinking is great, then you realize that being stuck with your thoughts for days ends up being its own form of torture. (Or just try not to be thrown in the prison in the first place, that would be a good idea as well 🤷🏻‍♂️)

2. Learn how to be witty

After a while of being in the prison, a new activity usually arises if guards are outside your cell. (Or a creepy lady with a cloak, but that’s another subject…) You get the chance to be witty. I have a hard time with this (R is much better at it), but having villains outside your cell is a great way to perfect it. 

I learned how to react quickly and push people’s buttons in new ways. Although, you have to be really careful when doing this because if you aren’t careful you could end up being slapped or worse. 🫤 But while that is a possibility, you still get a chance to learn how to be witty as long as you do it in moderation. 

3. Nightmares

The worst entertainment system in prison is the nightmares. I spent about half of my time in prison having nightmares. (Don’t ask *groans*) Try not to do this activity in prison, but sometimes it can’t be helped. 

My author told me not to use this in the article, but it’s a very valid point, thank you very much. 

Anyway, have fun with nightmares. They will torture you as much as your captors will. Heh…

4. Understand what it’s like to be blind

Okay, now this is actually interesting…somewhat. If your prison happens to be like mine was, it will be totally dark. This can drive you crazy, because you won’t have any sense of time or what day it is, but in a way it can also show you what it’s like to be blind. I had to learn how to listen to my surroundings and touch things to understand what the prison cell looked like. It was almost (not really) fun. If you really wanted to, I suppose you could make a game out of it. 

5. Count the bricks and bars 

This may seem a little childish, but when you have nothing else to do and you don’t want to sound insane by talking to yourself, just count how many bricks make up the walls of the prison cell. Then once you’ve counted, go ahead and count the bars of the cell, too. This is a great form of entertainment, plus you get to exercise your mind a little bit. It adds even more of a challenge if you try and guess what color the bricks are. (See activity four ^^) 

Yeah, this is probably the only real activity on this list, but you get my point. 

So, those are my five activities for if you are ever in a prison like mine. My main suggestion would be not to end up in prison in the first place, but if it can’t be helped, use my list for reference. 

I think this article is over now…so…goodbye for now. (I might come back if my author gives me a better subject because this would have been sorta fun I guess if I didn’t have to talk about trauma…*shrugs*) 

—Elias 

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Until next time, 

A.J. Syngraféas