Five Years Ago
The deep dark of the winter night: huddled figures lie in the hard, narrow beds, each fully clothed and with a single thin blanket wrapped tightly around against the blistering cold.
The windows, such as they are, are unfriendly eyes into the night, decked with webs from long-dead crawlers. The glass is opaque with dirt, but on the inside, frost traces its lacy filigree over the muck. And despite being on the third floor, they are securely barred on the outside. Thick steel plunges into brick and concrete.
And the dorm is silent. The occupants know better than to make noise at night.
There is a tapping sound.
The occupant of the nearest bed startles, jerking fearfully and peering out from under her blanket….
Not me….
Someone else… please….
But as she looks out along
