The New Mahican

The story of a naive undocumented Houstonian whose whole world is destroyed after an encounter with the Houston Police Department in Texas. In violation of the Constitution of the United States, the city of Houston's police force works with federal agencies in order to send Gerardo to a faraway land. According to the United States Constitution, the federal government and the state government are to remain separate entities in order to protect the rights of the people. Kept in captivity for three years with no opportunity of ever getting legal status in the only place Gerardo called home. As these events unfold, he attempts to understand what his world has become. He never loses hope that he might be released in order to continue his education and reunite with his family.While in captivity Gerardo's mind makes sense of the things happening around him by turning events into mythical epics. He speaks to various individuals who tell him of their hopes and dreams and watches as their spirit gets crushed daily. Slowly starved by a poor diet, he struggles to find a way to legitimize his existence with a racist and hostile government that he does not comprehend. Having lost the ability to walk on his own, Gerardo then must use the prison walls as support in order to get about. Abused by his captors on a daily basis, he begins to lose hope of ever seeing his family again. Forced to sign a paper that waived his right to be a legitimate American, Gerardo is then exiled for a hundred years by a judge just as old. Who is broadcasting from another location to a television screen in a courtroom inside the concentration camp.After being exiled from his home, they then send Gerardo to a land that he has never known. Struggling to survive, Gerardo decides that even though he fears the American government, he must return home in order to provide for his family. Even after being so heavily persecuted, Gerardo still holds on to his love for the country that destroyed his life.

-- Gerardo Antonio Pérez Chan