NICE DOC

HAKAN

**

I was chained up in a dark, damp room. I had no idea how much time had passed, or whether it was night or day. I didn’t hear any more sounds, so I assumed I was alone. My head still ached fiercely, and I almost assumed I was blind because of how dark it was, but then someone came in to drop food for me, and I could see with more light in the room. My meal was stale bread and water that had a funny taste, but who was I to complain. They must be feeding me just once a day because my meals were spaced over several hours.

My headache got worse, and I became so weak that even to open my eyes was a problem. My last meal lay a few feet away from me, and I had no energy to crawl to it. Maybe it was better this way. Maybe death would be a mercy compared to basically being treated like a dog. I thought of my mother and siblings often, wishing I would wake up from a bad dream and still be back with them. Somedays I even dreamed of being at home, and every time I woke up to see my reali