A TURQUOISE NOISE

Untitled Part 1

INTRODUCTION

We were nearing the end of a long and great depression but the populace had no way of for-telling the future. There still remained a constant, harsh struggle by the common people to survive. Families had been torn apart when the heads of house-holds could no longer scrape together means to support them. A number of the hungry took their own lives, too proud to face downfall. Some unable to cope with the grief of personal loss died even of a broken heart.

Amidst all of the despair and desperation shined one who raised the spirits of men. Through the course of his daring travels he had acquired the wisdom to willfully refine the minds of others, profoundly affecting the lives of those who came to know him.

Otis Sandstrom stood before the judge on a cold day in March of 1935 showing little emotion as the verdict was being handed down. "Otis T. Sandstrom... the court hereby finds you guilty of manslaughter; a crime punishable by a sentence of no less than twenty years in the Puget Sound Correction Center."

The prison above Puget Sound had been constructed high on a bluff overlooking an expansive inlet. Otis caught sight of the bay every now and then as a glimpse of it flashed between branches of heavy forest. The prison bus was routinely bouncing over a gravel road toward its course. On board only one other convict accompanied the Swede. He was a sullen, quiet, Black fellow by the name of Web Henry. He was being returned to the prison after spending some time under psychiatric observation. The large man had also been put away for manslaughter. Physically, Web Henry was a mightily strong man, yet his continence portrayed that of one who had endured more than he was capable of accepting. He held the vacant stare of a man who had mentally removed himself from the world. Otis never heard a word out of him.

Otis Sandstrom and the mentally distant man were awkwardly chained together, wrist and ankle. The Swede sensed the muscled giant dangerous so endeavored to hold still and quiet. He had never had to fight a deranged man while bound in chains and didn't want to have to practice the effort now. So he silently sat watching out of the window as the last of his freedom faded with each receding mile.

Steel bars would soon close tightly behind the fifty seven year old Swedish fisherman from Gig Harbor. It had been supposed that he had beaten to death a policeman in Tacoma. Like most other men Sandstrom felt much trepidation at being caged up like an animal. But unlike most other men he would prove to stand out as one capable of taking on all that confronted him, as though nothing was detrimental to his purpose, merely another riddle in the game of life.

CHAPTER ONE

"Put these on!" The guard threw a pair of over-alls to the dripping-wet prisoner after he had just been deloused. "Follow me... we're going to get you a mattress and blanket." The red cheeked guard was a slow country boy and to the Swede's bafflement a pleasant fellow who made small talk as he led Otis to his cell. "Well, here we are... home sweet home. Will Lin... you've got company. Say hello to your new roommate... Otis... Sandstrom... is it?"

"That's right." The door swung shut and Otis faced the residing cellmate.

"You get the bottom... I'm on top. My name's Will Lin." The young Asian held out his hand to shake and Sandstrom returned the gesture. "Do you mind if I ask what you're in for?" The young fellow carefully inquired.

"Manslaughter," Otis casually replied.

"You killed a fella?" Will Lin sounded concerned.

As Otis Sandstrom pressed the worn and flattened mattress into the bottom bunk he professed. "If I say no... the law still says yes... take your pick. But either way... you can take it easy... I'm not going to harm you."