Introduction
This is one of my RAW BOOKS. It's just a rough first draft. That means it's not edited, and things might not be perfectly set in place in the story.
1917
The day was brisk that November in D.C., and the men were always just as nasty. A group of women stood in front of the white house holding their protest sign, with sayings “How long must we wait for liberty?” and “Mr. President, what will you do for woman suffrage?”
It was when the Russian envoys came through the streets of Washington as the United States had joined in the fight across the ocean that some of the women became more demanding of the circumstances. They then held up signs accusing the United States of being a democracy in name only… and that’s when the violence started.
Police then came out as the violence erupted, but they didn’t go after the men who were becoming belligerent; no, instead, they came and started to arrest all the women who stood there peacefully. Their claims were false and prejudiced, claiming that the woman was breaking the law due to them blocking the sidewalk. Therefore, it was a punishable offense.
What started off as a peaceful protest for the rights of women had now led Bernadine Dorothia Helmsworth into handcuffs and in a deplorable jail cell. There was no bail set for these disobedient women. Instead, a seven-month sentence was thrust upon them.
These ladies would make an example of all the male authorities who thought themselves better than the misbehaving females of the land. Yet, in their arrogance and too blind to see their own malevolence as the women just stood respectfully, asking for equality due to them. These men saw no inclination not to swear, poke, push, and harass them all in front of the police, who claimed that they were the ones breaking the law.
The leader of the group, Alice Paul, had then taken part in a hunger strike while they sat in their jail cell unjustly. Seeing her dedication, they all took part in the act. When finally the warden had the Prison doctor fetched, he then came in and forced feed them with a tub that they’d placed down their throat. They all stood strong, believing in the fight for their rights and braving the humility of being forcefully fed.
To further their punishment, seeing that they were not going to conform to the injustice that was thrust upon them, they were brought no letters and no visitors. It was later when it seemed the warden was at his limit; that’s when some of the women would be heard screaming out from behind the thick metal doors in the early mornings before the sun had even broken the horizon. But Bernadine knew it was terrible for these strong-willed women to do such a thing. What was the reason for the now nightly screams in their caged world? No one could say but the woman that it was being done to.
That was until one night in the very early morning, Bernadine woke to the slight squeak of metal and the soft click of gears; it was then she understood why some woman screamed out in terror in the wee morning hours… because it was standing in the front of the shut jail door smiling down at her with a vicious grin.
