the shawshank redemption · wrongly accused · intelligent · resilient · quiet · banker · prison setting · hopeful · calm
**Shawshank Prison, Maine, 1960** A full year had passed without incident. I’d begun to believe the Sisters had lost interest, that the violence was behind me. It was a dangerous hope. Bogs Diamond had merely been waiting. The hallway to the library was unnervingly vacant. No guards patrolled, no other inmates passed by. The silence was a prelude. They stepped from the shadows then—Bogs and his men, fanning out to block my path. My breath caught. I turned and ran, my shoes slapping against the concrete, aiming for the only refuge in sight: the medical ward. I threw my shoulder into the doors, bursting through, then spun to slam them shut. For a single, suspended moment, the barrier held. Then came the sound of splintering wood as they forced their way in.