Gamer To Farmer

Chapter 24: Prison Journal

A/N: So Tint's in prison facing false charges of killing Mage. He's been betrayed by the people he used to care about. Now, he awaits trial and sentencing. The outcome is uncertain, knowing full well that his mother could influence that decision. Be warned that this chapter is really messed up and probably won't make any sense.

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Life in prison had been harsh. Even the prisoners had heard of my alleged exploits and they were quick to take hatred against me. Day after day had passed by and I now was on my last day of imprisonment. I had been given a small journal which I used to record the events of my prison stay. Now, in those final hours, I decided to go back and review my records.

Summer 22 (August 05): Today is my first day stuck here in this dump. I don't really know what to say about any of this. I am still in awe that I was betrayed. I wasn't surprised that my mother had something planned, but I never expected it to be this large in scale.

My heart still aches as I thought about everyone who had taken part in this betrayal. Raven, who had convinced me into returning to Canada. My father, who had turned his back on his own child for the sake of a few billion dollars. Even Mage's parents. I don't have anything to say to any of them.

Elli has been ushered out of the country, taking Stu and the children with her. Neil had to face the choice of love or family loyalty. He chose love. This leaves me with no support to face this hatred with.

September 13: I lost track of the Mineral Town calendar. I've been receiving letters from the people back in Mineral Town. They all are behind me, but nobody is allowed to come over here. Worse off, rumors were flying around the village that these accusations were true.

October 02: How long are they going to keep me here? I have yet to talk to a lawyer or go through a trial! I am being held here against my will! I know that this is against the law! Obviously, money can take precedence over the law.

January 29: About time that they gave me a trial. Much good it did. I was called up to the witness stand and was faced with more outrages accusations. I was never given the chance to speak one single time. It was no surprise when the jury came back with the guilty verdict. But a surprise did come when the judge handed me the death sentence. My sentence wouldn't be made public knowledge because the death penalty is "outlawed" in Canada. I have been transferred to a private facility with no contact to the outside world. All I am stuck with are the other dozen prisoners who are faced with the same fate as me. There, I will wait until that day comes. September 11 of next year.

Across the wall from my sparsely furnished cell was a newspaper clipping from the front page of a leading national paper. There was a large picture of me covering my face as I was ushered into a waiting police car. The headline screamed, "Brett, the Body Bastard has finally been Sentenced to Life!"

February 16: My mind is starting to fall apart on me. I'm starting to see things that I know don't exist. I am coming up with a complex plot to get revenge on everyone! Yes, they will all pay for what they did to me!

What I'm going to do is escape one day when they bring in the school field trips. They come every couple of days and do nothing but point and laugh at me. They will be the firs to pay! Then, I will kill the guards and escape into the outside world. Mother, I'm coming for you!

February 18: Medication good… Killing bad…

March 07: Father visited me today. He explained his plans of arranging a trip to Mineral Town the day after my scheduled execution. That is when he is going to commence in the destruction of my beloved home. Must stop him, but how? This cell is so confining. Maybe…

March 08: So they caught me. I knew that I should have studied the layout of the prison more carefully before my attempt at freedom. But maybe, just maybe, my progress might not be considered enough to be considered an escape attempt. I managed to take three steps outside of my cell before being gang tackled by the very watchful guards. In hindsight, maybe I shouldn't have yelled out, "I bet that none of you fat jerks can catch me before I get two steps out of this cell, even if you were waiting outside the open door." At least I won the bet. Now, I have five dollars.

The rest of the journal remained blank. I traded off my pen and five dollars for one of the guards to deliver me Tim Horton's coffee for my last day. Now that this day had come, I waited patiently for my delivery to come. I couldn't believe myself. I was about to be put to death and I was more interested in getting my coffee.

Just as I closed my journal, I spotted the guard who was to deliver the coffee. "Hey, you got my drink?" I called out.

The guard merely shrugged his shoulders as he walked past my cage. He paused for a short moment and whispered, "Five minutes until we take you to the chair."

"What about my coffee?" I persisted, tugging at the guard's sleeve. In response, I found myself staring into the barrel of a gun. I take it that I wasn't going to be getting my coffee today. The guard disapeared around the corner, leaving me to wait out the final five minutes of my life that I had left.

How cruel my life had become since being separated from my family. Maybe life would be better for everyone else if I wasn't part of it. I wasn't exactly a highly contributing member of society. So many problems had arisen because of my actions. I had, after all, been a large factor in the death of Doctor Tim. If I just went peacefully, nobody would really care about me.

But, there was my family. How could I so easily cast them aside and forget about them? The kids would be growing up without a father. Poor Elli would have to live the rest of her life without me by her side. Maybe she had found someone else? The farm had probably already fallen into shambles. The chances of my farm passing my father's inspection were slim. What was I thinking? He wouldn't care if the farm was good enough, he would still destroy Mineral Town.

I could feel my emotions getting the better of me. Tears were on the verge of bursting from my eyes. All I could do to hold them back was move to the corner and huddle up into a ball. I buried my heads into my arms, sobbing at my failure in life. "It's a shame to see a grown man cry." A voice stated from above me.

I quickly got up to my feet and looked at the window in the corner of my cell. A tiny person dressed in a red shirt and cap was staring in at me. "Chef! What are you doing here?" I asked, clearly amazed that I had a window in my cell. If I had known about that earlier, I would have tried to use that in my escape attempt.

Chef shrugged his tiny Harvest Sprite shoulders. "Me and the other sprites were at the local Tim Horton's. The owner had to make a delivery here, but was too busy. So he asked us to do it for him." In Chef's hand, he held a large coffee cup.

"Give me!" I called out as I launched myself at the window. I fell hopelessly short and smashed myself into the wall.

Chef shook his head in amazement. "Either your days in prison have made you crazier or you're the exact same as I remember you. You'll get your coffee when we let you out of here, Tint."

"Give me!" I demanded, jumping up at the window. The other Harvest Sprites were already at work loosening the bars across the widow. I was amazed that the Sprites had managed to sneak into such a high security facility.

"One minute left, Body Bastard!" A guard called from somewhere along the hall.

The Harvest Sprites had removed the last of the bars. I had access to freedom! I jumped up and managed to grab hold of the outside of the wall. The Harvest Sprites took hold of my arms and pulled. "A prisoner is escaping!" The guard called out as he approached my cage.

Alarms blared all around me as I collapsed onto the grass outside the building. I got up to my feet with the help of the Sprites. I looked around at the familiar surroundings as the Sprites tugged me away from the large building that I had been held captive in. Who would have guessed that a prison was stationed on the interior of a Wal-Mart? I always knew that the store was smaller than the building appeared on the outside. At least I was still in my home town.

Bold reached into his pocket and pulled out a tiny slip of paper. The blue clothed Sprite handed me the paper. I took one look at the paper and realized that it was a ticket back home. I looked over the sprites, a thankful look across my face. "I don't know what to say." I stated.

"Just make sure that we have a home to return to." Aqua replied. The building was beginning to empty of guards. The men appeared to be very angry about something as they charged towards me and the Harvest Sprites.

I quickly downed the scalding drink and ran. A harsh war cry erupted from behind me. I risked glancing over my shoulder to see what was going on. The Harvest Sprites had discarded their caps to reveal colored headbands. Judging from the way they were handling the guards, I could guess that they had studied a martial art at one time or another.

The sound of a blaring car horn brought me back to my escape. I turned my attention back onto what was in front of me and found myself running across a road. A fancy red sports convertible had stopped right in front of me. I was unable to stop, tumbling across the hood of the vehicle. "Tint! Get in!" The driver of the car ordered.

I didn't bother to see who it was. All I did was dive into the back seat of the vehicle as the driver floored the accelerator. My breath came in sharp intakes as I struggled to regain my composure from the escape. "You're quite lucky that your friends included me in their plan." The driver commented over his shoulder.

I got my first look at the driver of my escape vehicle. I hardly recognized Neil from his refined appearance. Gone was the Gothic look and arrived was a professional appearance. I pulled myself into a sitting position as he returned his attention to the road. "When did you get your license?" I inquired. He had turned sixteen the previous spring, so he was o legal age to drive in this province. But, judging from the way that he handled the sports car, he hadn't passed the driving exam.

"I never got it. I just decided to steal Mother's car and take it for a joy ride. I ran into the Harvest Sprites at the coffee shop and they convinced me to help on your rescue. You've got a bag in the trunk. All I have to do is get you to the airport." Neil replied as he swerved to avoid a slow moving vehicle.

A siren sounded from behind us. I glanced back to see two police cars taking pursuit of us. "Your training from Grand Theft Auto better have paid off." I commented. In response, Neil pushed the car to an even faster speed.

A few more cop cars joined the chase. This was turning out to be just like a scene from one of those Worlds Wildest Police Chase Videos. My belief was confirmed when I spotted the helicopter hovering above us.

"I hope that Raven understands. She sends her apologies. She had no idea that Mother had caught wind of your returns." Neil yelled above the roar of the wind mixed with the chopper blades.

"No problem. I just want to get back home to Elli and the kids. That's all that matters. I hope that the plane will take off with so much police involvement." The road ahead of us was clearing up considerably. We had taken to the highway and had clear passage as far as I could see.

"Don't worry about your plane. The ticket you have is just a decoy. Hand it in at the proper gate. The attendant will direct you to a door to the tarmac. There will be one of your old Cadet friends waiting in a fighter jet to take you over to Japan. Meanwhile, the police will force the passenger airliner to stay grounded, thinking that you boarded that plane. We have it all planned out." Neil explained.

A voice crackled over some sort of megaphone, breaking the crisp fall atmosphere. "Pull over this instant or we will be forced to use violent measures." The command came from somebody up in the helicopter. This was definitely ranking among the most exciting moments of my twenty and a half years.

A sign on the roadside stated that the next exit led to the airport. Neil faked going straight before swerving onto the exit. A few of the cop vehicles bought the bluff, trying desperately to make it to the onramp. All that they succeeded in creating was a pile-up of crashed vehicles. "Only two remain on our tail. Plus the chopper." I observed as we drove across the overpass. The airport terminal loomed ahead of us.

"Tint, get the bag out of the trunk!" Neil ordered. I immediately obliged, flipping down the seat and reaching into the trunk. "That's going to help your escape. Leave it somewhere in the airport. The security there is sure to quarantine the area, thinking that the bag is a bomb."

I looked over at my brother. He was showing bravery and loyalty that was unknown among youth his age. I was proud of my kid brother. "What about you? You're not coming home with me, are you?" I asked.

We had pulled in underneath the parking garage of the airport. That was sure to lose the helicopter. The cop cars that were following us were fooled by a quick u-turn that Neil pulled. Now, he had parked the car in front of the entrance. People were looking at us like we were madmen.

Neil shook his head as I jumped out of the vehicle. "I'm afraid not." Flashing lights from either end of the road confirmed that the cops had backed Neil into a corner. "I've got to buy you some extra time. Now go!" I hesitated momentarily before running into the airport.

There was a large glass window that showed the events that were happening outside. Neil's car was now surrounded by half a dozen police cars, their occupants pouring out and pointing their guns at my brother. Neil had gotten out of his car, his hands raised into the air in a gesture of surrender. He was slowly backing away from the advancing officers who were demanding that he get down on his knees.

A smile had crossed my brother's face as he backed into a wall. His hand searched the wall, eventually finding and pressing the button for the elevator. The metallic doors slid open and Neil dived inside, just barely avoiding the bullets that collided with the shutting door. My guess was that he was going to hit the emergency stop button between floors. He was going to be safe for a few minutes.

The people inside the airport had joined me in watching what was occurring outside. I quickly dropped my bag among the crowd near the door. "It's a bomb!" I called out, pointing to the abandoned bag before continuing towards the gate listed on my ticket. All around me, people were turning into a frightened mob. They would provide me with cover as I joined them in running through the terminal.

I spotted the gate that was listed on the ticket. The man behind the desk appeared calm while everyone else was screaming. I casually approached the desk and handed the man my ticket. The man looked over the ticket and quickly gestured for me to follow him as he ducked into the tunnel leading towards a parked plane.

"Mage would have loved this if it had been a movie or video game." The man commented as he opened up a small silver door. The door led to the tarmac, where there was a jet waiting.

I placed a reassuring hand on the shoulder of the man. Only now did I recognize him as one of my old friends. He was actually the one who had called me Farmer Tint on my last day of school. "Sorry that our reunion couldn't be on better circumstances." I apologized.

My friend shook his head. "No need to apologize. I'm just glad to help you once again, Tint. I knew that you were innocent."

I thanked my friend and quickly descended the staircase onto the tarmac. The door behind me was slammed shut, locking me outside. I was so close to freedom, I could practically smell it. "Hey Tint, ready for a ride?" The female pilot asked as she handed me a helmet.

"You know it. Let's blow this joint." I smiled as I slipped the helmet over my head. She was yet another friend. I remembered that she had received her pilot's license from Cadets and I knew that I could trust her flying.

The two of us jumped into the cockpit. The woman fired up the engines as she lowered the canopy over our heads. A voice crackled over the radio. "You're clear for takeoff. Fly free, Tint." Yet another friend of mine.

"This rescue is going along perfectly." I thought as our jet roared down the runway and up into the air. The helicopter watched helplessly as the jet screamed by it. The pilot pointed the plane west and off we were. I was on my way back home.

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A/N: Don't even get started on what's technically wrong with this chapter. It's a work of fiction and anything's possible. Thus ends the second last chapter of this story. I wish to warn everyone that it may take some time before I get out the final chapter. I plan on it to be very long and near perfect. I'm going to be pouring every minute of my spare time to ensure that this story will go out with a memorable conclusion. Thanks for reading this chapter and please remain patient in waiting for the conclusion.