Solo Pass

This dark yet funny story is told by a man who for two months has been a patient at a New York City mental ward. Having suffered a breakdown, he now finds himself caught between two worlds: the world of the ward, where abnormality and an odd sort of freedom reign, and the outside world, where convention and restrictive behavior rule. Finally on his way to becoming reasonably "normal" again, he is granted a "solo pass," which allows him to leave the ward for several hours and visit the city, with the promise that he will return to the hospital by evening. As he prepares for his excursion, we get a picture of the ward he will temporarily leave behind.