Carrie calls herself a “spunky, spontaneous, ambitious, optimistic little lady who is filled with unleashed passion and wishing to fulfill your desires.”

This 24-year-old blond churchgoer wants to meet someone new and exciting. So if that's you, perhaps you can date her someday — someday shortly after April of next year, to be precise, because that's when Carrie gets out of prison.

Betty in Texas is a “fun-loving grandmother (who) is waiting to hear from some fun-loving gentleman,” but she won't get out until 2016. Ruth in Florida, 49, wants someone to let her be “his New Years Baby, February Lover, March's good luck charm, his fool in April, mommy in May, lil girl in June, teach me the true meaning of fireworks in July, let me be his vacation in August, slave in September, treat in October, feast in November, toy in December.” Ruth was convicted of murder and kidnapping, and will be in prison for the rest of her life.

These are the women of Meet-an-inmate.com, an Internet personal ad listing primarily for female prisoners — hundreds of ads featuring women aged 18 to 60-plus, short-timers to lifers, each with a photo or sketch. Several thousand people have paid $3 apiece for these women's addresses. The site has had more than a million hits.

It's all run by Arlen Bischke, a 48-year-old husband, father and Navy veteran who has spent most of his life in Hermiston, Ore. He grew up out there on a watermelon farm, and when he started Meet-an-inmate in 1998, he was making $14 an hour in the quality assurance department at a large Wal-Mart distribution center.

“I had a friend who was in prison, and she wanted me to try and get some mail for her friends,” he said. “I have not become rich from the site, but the income after expenses has equaled the wages of my full-time job.”

Bischke is scrupulously frank about what he's selling, however. “I run a pen pal service, not a marriage agency,” he said. “Many of these ladies are drug addicts, and that will continue to be a huge obstacle then they are released.”

Still, the men who request addresses come from all walks of life, Bischke said — doctors, lawyers, police officers, the handicapped. Forty percent are repeat customers.

The ads are like most personal classifieds, with subtle differences. Many more women than usual say they love the outdoors. There also are a number of widows in their 30s and 40s. And many more than usual say they do not like head games.

Inmates also are much more likely than most to say — clearly and plaintively — just how lonely they are. “Once I came to prison, it seems like everyone forgot about me,” writes Patricia in California, who turns 22 today. From Connecticut, 30-year-old Candace writes, "I enjoy reading, working out, shooting pool and smelling men's cologne samples in magazines."

The women frequently also talk of redemption. “I have made some bad decisions, but I'm not a bad person,” writes Adriana, 22, a small, thin woman with large glasses and a large smile on a small heart-shaped face. She will be in a Texas prison for the next 23-1/2 years, though like most of the other women, she does not say what she's there for.

Some women also say things that make you wonder. “I am doing a life sentence for murder, so there is plenty of time for telling and receiving letters from someone,” writes Patricia, a 48-year-old permanent resident of Oklahoma who describes her marital status as “widow.” She also, by the way, has received more than 25 requests for her address.

“I am in prison for second-degree assault. I am a very easy-going person,” writes a 20-year-old Missouri woman who poses for her photo holding a fluffy stuffed animal.

“I cannot receive introducing letters, so please write me as if you are my long lost friend,” writes a former film producer from Oklahoma who has a 5-year history of drug charges and escaping confinement. “Who knows, you actually could be!!”

It also should be noted that many of their pictures contrast sharply and flatteringly with their mug shots.

“This isn't meet-a-Girl-Scout-dot-com,” Bischke said, advising anyone interested in these women to use common sense. “There is certainly a very real potential for good things to come for both parties. But this is a safari in the wild, not a petting zoo.”