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Maru---Tennis Court Holding area
"We were well into our second day on the courts, and we had not been fed. I tried
counting the number of prisoners on the courts. I would count one row, then multiply
the number of rows. Then my brain would go dead and I would lose track. I would start
again, but finally gave up. The sun was baking my head. I tried putting my head
between my knees, and clasping my hands on the back of it. It helped, but I couldn't
stay in that position for any length of time. Prisoners were passing out all over the
courts from the heat, and lack of food and water.
...I sat and looked around , then I realized that all of us were baking in the heat and
slowly dying...,
I had lost any energy I had left. I no longer had any desire for life. I wasn't suicidal, just
resigned to whatever fate had in store for me. I would fight no more. I sat and stared
and saw men staring back at me, their eyes not recognizing my existence. Another
night passed, and it took more prisoners with it. The morning light exposed more
bodies among the rows of prisoners. The prisoner next to me was slumped over, and
the one in front of me was pitched forward. For whatever reason, my mind came alive. I
began to plan again. My brain was humming and thinking. I must survive. I had to find a
way."