The nightmare begins when you wake up to reality[1].

[1] Life imprisonment (also known as a life sentence, lifelong incarceration or life incarceration) is a sentence of imprisonment for a serious crime under which the convicted person is to remain in jail for the rest of his or her life. This sentence does not exist in all countries. Portugal was the first country in the world to abolish life imprisonment by the Prison reforms of Sampaio e Melo, in 1884. A few countries worldwide had allowed for minors to be given lifetime sentences that have no provision for eventual release.
As of 2009, Human Rights Watch had calculated that there were 2589 youth offenders serving life without parole in the United States.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_imprisonment