False Walls

The isolation is eerie and palpable, and insult is even more injurious as the glittering lights of downtown San Francisco and all of it’s wanton freedoms are within plain sight, only 1.25 miles away.  It was not uncommon for prisoners to hear Christmas music and and the sound of new years eve parties traveling across the bay.  And yet, Alcatraz as well be on the moon, because the likelihood of escaping the stone walls of the prison itself pales in comparison to the wet hell that awaits anyone attempting the fool's journey across the choppy, freezing blue waters of the San Francisco bay.  And as far as we know, though there is some margin for debate that we shall explore, there’s no solid evidence that anyone who has attempted to escape from Alcatraz ever survived. Or did they?