The guards came for me as I sat in my dimly lit cell, the stinking water from the leaking toilet above dripping down the walls. I stood as they came in, smiling at them, knowing that they were only doing their unpleasant duty.

The priest came in with them and offered me the Last Rites, but never having sinned I gently thanked him and refused. We walked out in that long, long hallway.

As I passed the other cells the prisoners would call out "Be strong!" and "God bless you!" Finally, we arrived and after the preliminaries I boldly removed my upper garments and bare-chested faced the shooting party.

There was no reprieve. The fluoroscope was positioned over my left shoulder and the needle injected not once, but twice, penetrating into the ligament capsule surrounding the rotator cuff, spraying out its contents of lidocaine and cortisone.

Then it was over and I was free to go, the shooting being executed according to orders.

Mom, my last thought was of how really neat it was to see my shoulder bones on the x-ray machine. Sorry.