Day 15

The silence here is driving me crazy.

In these caves, the only real sound other than the passing of the guards is the slow, steady drip of water off the ceilings and into the floor. There are three spots in my cell where it drips, two by the door and one close my head as I sleep. Maybe that is why the Chinese prefer water torture. The slow steady rhythm gets on your nerves...

At first you don't even notice it. You just go on thinking. All that comes to my mind are old songs I remember from my last trip on leave. Couple of really good ones that I listened to often. Some of the new ones. Just snippets though. I can't remember all the lyrics, just the beat and the music. Funny that songs are what's on my mind. I should be thinking about how to escape or something but at the moment I can't.

But then it's back to that incessant drip. Just over and over and over again. The cave/cell I am in is only about 15 feet long by about 10 feet wide. It isn't a rectangle, more of an ellipse or circle. I have walked around the entire thing too many times to count. Nothing. Just sheer stone.

There are little cubbyholes in the walls. I don't know if they are natural or if they are bored out manually. Kind of weird, like a crypt in a movie or something. They made sure to remove everything before they tossed me in here. Still dripping. It's an offset pattern, too. The first two by the door go one after another, then about two seconds later the one by my head. Then a pause of about five seconds. Then repeat. I'll just try to ignore it.

Big Guy didn't come by my cell today. Instead, the guy with the long beard came around about midday and just stared at me for a while. Didn't say anything. He just sat there. Didn't really look hostile, either. More like he was contemplating me, taking stock. I don't know how long he watched me, but after I just stared back he nodded once and walked away. Maybe he is sizing me up, wondering if I will try to escape.

Drip drip, pause drip. Damn it, that's annoying. Reminds me of those stupid commercial jingles you can't get out of your head for local convenience stores or auto dealerships.

Wick on the lamp candle is dwindling. Hopefully they replace it.