Week 2 Story: The Guard, The Prisoner, and The Nurse

One day a security guard was walking through the prison on the way to his office. On his way, one of the inmates pleaded with the guard to let him go outside because he really wanted to go outside since the weather was so nice. The security guard questioned whether he should let the inmate out, and he decided not to. He told the inmate that he wasn’t allowed to go outside at that time. The inmate begged and begged, and the security guard finally conceded on the condition that the inmate wouldn’t cause any trouble. The inmate agreed and was obviously excited to go outside.

The security guard opens the door and lets the inmate out. In the blink of an eye, the inmate pulls out a shank and puts it to the guard’s neck. The security guard was scared for his life and cried out for mercy. He was so confused as to why the inmate would pull such a cruel trick since the guard had helped him out. He pleaded his case to the inmate, so the inmate mockingly asked other inmates about what he should do. First he asked an inmate who was imprisoned on drug charges. The first inmate said the security guard earned it because he trusted the inmate which was obviously foolish. The next inmate was in prison for murder. He said he wished he had thought of the idea because he still had a thirst for blood. The final prisoner was a drunk driver who accidentally killed the driver of an oncoming car. He said nothing and was mournful because the situation took him back to the fact he had killed that innocent driver.

Just as the inmate was about to harm the guard, a nurse entered the room as it was time to for the inmates to receive their yearly flu shot. She immediately realized what was happening and acted to defuse the situation.  The inmate threatened her but she acted quickly. In a deceptive way, she informed the inmate that his current form would not kill the guard, just severely injure him. The inmate was displeased because he was an angry man and sought the death of the guard. He implored the nurse to show him exactly how to do the vicious deed. She approached slowly with her hands at her side. She grabbed the inmates arm with her right hand, and she secretively slipped her left hand into her pocket. In a flash she pulled out a syringe and stuck the inmate in the back of his chest. He did not know that the nurse was armed with an instant tranquilizer in case of an emergency situation with the inmates. The prisoner instantly tensed up and the guard slipped away. More security arrived and the prisoner was sentenced to a life sentence beyond his current sentence.

(A prison guard standing next to a door - Express.co.uk)

I took this plot from the short story about The Brahman, The Jackal, and The Tiger. The story line is very similar and can be found in my reading notes. The security guard represents the Brahman, the inmate is the Tiger, and the Nurse is the Jackal. Obviously the story I told is quite a bit different, but it follows a similar plot. My story includes the release of the prisoner which is related to the Brahman releasing the Tiger. The inmate then asks the opinions of the other inmates, which is related to the Brahman asking opinions of the tree, the buffalo, and the road. And the nurse steps in to save the day; much like the jackal did for the Brahman.

Bibliography
Indian Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs with illustrations by John Batten