Maximum Security

Huntsville is like any other East Texas city in the morning. There is the morning rush to work and the heat. But the one thing that sets Huntsville from the other towns is what it is home to. Huntsville is known for its maximum security prison. When you drive south on the freeway you see horses off to the left. They look, eat, and smell like any other horse. But their job is special. These horses and the ones you saw last night are owned by the prison and are law enforcement horses. They are very well trained horses. They are treated very well and have food available 24/7. They are all breeds, sizes, and colors. The morning light shines on their coats and reflects off of the dew around them. The prison looms behind them

You continue south and a massive city grows before you. There are 7 lanes for each side of the freeway. Of to your left and right small buildings that spread back to the steps of the taller buildings. In the distance, the skyscrapers of downtown start to come into view. This is Houston. It is a huge town and there is always a lot of traffic. You hit the morning rush hour. You get stuck in in the traffic for a few hours. 

Giant flags surround you. The city is straight off to your right. The sun shines off of the glossy windows. Reflections of buildings bounce off of their neighbors. Some buildings are brown, other are blue. As you head south and break out of the rush hour traffic the buildings become lost behind you, shrouded by the concrete of multiple interchanges. Below the interchanges and overpasses, homeless have tent and cardboard houses. Some of the tents are made out of blue tarps. Some of the homeless have clothes lines strung between to bush. Graffiti is on every overpass and concrete column.

You get through town and the traffic eases. A little further south you spot a large body of water, the Gulf of Mexico. The blue waves crash into the sparkling shore. You get down to Galveston and your parents drop you off while they go to the port. You and your sister walk down to the beach and mess around in the sand and water a while. The sand is gritty beneath you feet and the water is warm. The water is also brown and cloudy for 100 yards out. You parents pick you and your sister up and then you find a hotel. You spend the rest of the night at the hotel relaxing. The room is cool. You put some waters in the freezer of the small, black hotel fridge and sit back. Your mom makes a cheese burger dinner which is very satisfying. You watch the sun set outside your window. It sets behind some trees and houses. Even after the sun has set you sit there staring out at the quiet, black world. You turn back into the room and go to bed.