Another World—The Encounter Between Inmate No. 7026 and No. 262

It is a place enclosed by four walls, where bundled barbed wire is mixed with dead leaves,
a drainage ditch where strangers must not tread, and guard tower windows fitted with wire mesh,
the walls painted with rainbows, looking completely out of place in this world.

Equally commonplace meals:
In the cabinet, today's and yesterday's meals cost less than thirty NT dollars each,
while the set dishes displayed by vendors outside—

：Boss, how much for a plate?
：This one is six hundred, and there are also three-hundred-dollar ones.

It turns out how extravagant such a taste can be.

Holding the visitation slip, I stepped into that world.
Having never been there before, outside I was filled with curiosity.
A key opened that iron gate, and following their footsteps,
we crossed the first wall, with barbed wire wrapping around the perimeter.
Yellowed walls, antiquated buildings.
The clock had stopped, frozen at 4:47 PM.
This world seemed to remain stuck in the 1990s.
A wall separated a distance of thirty years,
yet what remained unchanged was that the sky was still clear and bright.

Inside the room, separated by a thick pane of glass,
a rocking chair and an old-fashioned push-button telephone
made me suspect that the one thing that did not apply here was time.
The door opened, and Inmate No. 7026 walked in with a buzz cut.
He familiarly turned on the electric fan, and the Tatung fan whirred and chattered.
That stranger smiled brightly and started speaking from the static-filled end of the line—

：Hello Uncle, our names are...
：I know your names, it's written on the slip.
：But there are too many people, I can't remember all the names!
：However, I'll give you a set of numbers: you are 261, and you are 262.
：This is the number of people who have come to see me so far.

Arabic numerals took on life.
He, you, and I became the meaning of existence here.

：Those lawyers are helping me file for a retrial, right? Well, I hope it can be sorted out before the Lunar New Year.
：Will you come to see me?
：Yes... we...
：I will remember your numbers, and I'll look for you on the spot, so remember to come, alright?!

There was no such thing as pretense or hypocrisy.
All that remained here was boundless anticipation.
Miraculously, what was once a cheap promise no longer felt cheap.
Even reserved hesitation had no room to exist.
You tell me, what talk of enthusiastic and courageous youth—
Inmate No. 7026's positive spirit made me pale in comparison.

：Does sunlight ever shine in there?
：The air is terrible there, sunlight can't shine in, and the space is too small and crowded.
：It's caused me to have a bad heart now, low blood pressure, and all sorts of illnesses all over my body.
：For eighteen years I wore handcuffs and leg irons the whole time, even sleeping with them on.
：Then in 2006 they were finally removed.
：I've been working hard to improve the problems there, we must work hard together!
：Do you know about Judicial Yuan Interpretations No. 755 and 756?

Thinking of how those black and white words bore their hopes, my heart inevitably sank.

Inmate No. 7026 loves to sing, but inside there is no freedom to sing.
In this room, he gets twenty minutes each time to sing out his years.

：Uncle, we heard you sing very well, can you sing for us?
：Alright, you use your professional skills to solve problems, and I'll use my singing voice to face it.
：Listen to me sing...

Amidst the noisy static, I faintly heard...

The birds fly across the sky,
Every day I yearn for freedom,
Yet freedom never comes.
Who can understand my sorrow and pain?
Why, oh why,
Can I not return to my hometown?
Thirty-one years of youth, who can understand?
Oh friends, oh friends,
Let us all care for one another together.
When can I ever return to my hometown?

Before long, a warning tone sounded from the telephone.
There were many things left to say, and much more I wanted to hear.
As the warning tone signaled the impending separation,
The conversation cut off at that exact moment; what anyone said thereafter remains unknown.
Through the glass, there was only waving and an impenetrable emotional resonance.
Although Inmate No. 7026 wore a smile on his face,
the moment he turned around, his brow suddenly furrowed.
Then the door opened, and he returned to that world.

Then the door opened, and I returned to this world.
Thinking back to twenty minutes ago, looking at the net of the basketball hoop on the court,
With the sun right overhead, this world was still driven forward by time.
It felt as though something had just happened, yet as though nothing had ever happened at all.

Looking at the smoked chicken bread in the display case, I signed the registration slip.

：May I ask if he will see this slip?
：Yes, he will know it was sent by you.

And so, next to the names, I wrote Inmate No. 261 and Inmate No. 262.
In that place devoid of names, perhaps what could be remembered were the numbers on the slip.

The sunset over Chunan remains, never too late.
The young people sitting there have never changed.