The Forest
“Name?”
“Rohan Sarkar.”
“Age?”
“Thirty-five.”
“Occupation?”
“...Are you messing with me, sir?” Rohan said, his face undeterred. The officer nibbled on the tip of his fifth pen as he scribbled something on the file he was holding. “Yeah, whatever.” He said. Rohan mumbled under his breath and looked around the room — a simple four-by-four with a gloomy green paint job. One door, two lightbulbs. One table, two chairs. One wall clock, two people. One large mirror, and twenty people watching the two men through the other room.
“Well, are you gonna say anything, then?” Rohan asked. “And do those behind that mirror talk, or do they just watch?” The officer distantly raised his eyebrows and gave Rohan a deadpan stare. “Man, come on. You know what you’re here for,” he said. “You said something you shouldn’t, and now you’re here.” Rohan scoffed. “You should feel grateful that you’re not dead yet. Honestly, I don’t know why they didn’t issue anything on you. Huh. Are you that important?” The officer said, smirking. “I don’t think that way,” Rohan said, shifting his chair and pulling it forward with a loud, purposeful screeching sound. “You know, usually. I thought they saved people like you for last. That corp’ you blew the whistle for – now, I know they ain’t kind.” The officer nibbled on the tip of his sixth pen. “Seriously, if I were you, I’d keep my mouth shut. Come on, you had a nice job, a good life. Last time I checked, you were low-key loaded. So why’d you do what you did, man?” Rohan stared at the officer’s pen, which the officer slobbered on as the second hand ticked and ticked. Rohan convinced himself that if the officer did that long enough, his DNA would somehow seep from the saliva into the ink – a good idea for maintaining credibility in the age of forged signatures.
“I don’t know,” Rohan said. “You don’t know?” The officer repeated, his tone slightly louder. Rohan’s face remained still. “Hey, I suggest you start being honest. You don’t want to test their patience.” The officer set down his sixth pen and reached for a seventh when he realized that he hadn’t brought it to work today. “Huh. So, they’re watching through that mirror?” Rohan asked, glancing at the large mirror beside them. “That’s why – watch your words.” The officer said with increased agitation.
The twenty people who had been watching from the other side of the two-way mirror had been discussing amongst themselves. Some of them didn’t want to be there and would rather spend their time watching a movie, while others engaged in a heated debate focused on controlling the issue that Rohan had caused, and others discussed ways to torture him in various creative ways. “Put him in the forest.” One of them said, and it didn’t take long for a large majority of the twenty to agree in a vote. The others who voted otherwise had to give up their desires of seeing Rohan in rather inhumane depictions, though there isn’t much of a difference between the fates he’s allowed to have.