New Arrivals
People living in Sophi City use resources equally. Whether we call them inhabitants or inmates, they are residents of an island where they will eventually be buried. Streets, shops, and places don’t have names. There is an untold and unwritten code of conduct that everyone, or almost everyone, obeys; and since there is no contact with outside, necessity of a government body has not been envisioned. The more optimist citizens of the island philosophize that up to the recent times, people have been bound to the land where they were born, for the remaining of their lives. They think of the same circumstance, exasperated by the fact that they are denied of the modern technology, and their life style mimics those of their forefathers. At least, optimists reason, their living conditions are much better than those living in the US prisons or clinics; especially those who lose their lives to capital punishment. On The other side, there are pessimists who do not appreciate their life sentence in the island, and they condone their conditions. Some miss their former family members, relatives, and friends. However, it does not take long for the pessimists to join the optimists’ camp, due to the positive attitudes spread out among the islanders. There are people with talents and professions of diverse sorts, and they are free to express themselves. The large room or salon where new arrivals are led to, comprises of two doors; one near the waterfront wharf, and one at the other end leading to the longest street in the island. Above this door, there is a wooden arch-shaped tableau covered with various figures designed by straws and rocks, and a statement made of seashells that reads: “It is not my decision to start life here. It is not my decision to leave this life. It is my decision to enjoy the best life while I am here.” The population of the island is constantly increasing, as there is a new shipment almost every month. When they arrive in the island, they look confused as they are not given much information about their destination after they are sentenced to life to Sophi City. New arrivals enter a large room and stand by the wall looking at the people in the room, whom are dispersed around the room. Some are sitting by themselves, indifferent of the new faces. Some are talking to each other and some are just staring at the new condemned. For the new arrivals, the large room seems small and stifling.
