Wax Abyss

[ Adnan ] Ill in the Jailhouse

Adnan groaned- he couldn't stomach it one more time! After three whole days of eating the pathetic jailhouse food, he'd come to feel quite ill. The elf was sure he'd caught food poisoning or something akin to  it- perhaps a stomach bug that came from the lack of cleaning in the Jailhouse. 

"Aren't you gonna eat, young'in?" Asked the old man. Adnan heaved a weak sigh in reply. "No," he uttered. "I don't feel so hot." The old man cackled in reply. Adnan turned to face him, watching his smile- he had at least six teeth missing, and it made him sick to his stomach. Will I look like that? In a hundred years? Two hundred? He frowned; he didn't want to be an old man with missing teeth!

He quickly turned away, "I'd give my lunch to you if I could, but that's a fat chance." He stood up, pushing the warped metal tray back towards the bars with the toes of his left foot. He then walked over to the wooden bed- a structure with no comfort and no pillow, just a measly wool blanket. He crawled onto the bed, laying atop the blanket on his side. He had his back to the world, and was staring at the wall. He reached over, picking at it with his nail. It came away in white crumbles if he scratched it hard and long enough.

Adnan, still feeling ill, whined. "How much longer until someone comes to speak to me?" He said. The old man sighed for the umpteenth time. "No matter how many times you say it, won't make it happen."

Adnan suddenly sat up, feeling woozy. "Well, they better come soon! I'm getting dog tired of all this waiting, and shouting, and crappy prison food!" He winced, the ill feeling catching up to him. He went across the room, hung over the toilet, and vomited.

"There, there..." Said the old man. "We're all sick our first few days. Come, in time you'll be feeling better and come to terms with your fate." Adnan groaned, tasting the bitter bile in his mouth and throat. He spit, hung his head, and closed his eyes. "I was framed, for real! It's not my fault, I swear! Why won't anyone believe me?"

"Because they all swear and cry and moan," Retorted the old man sharply. "Can't you see that? You're a grown man, stop calling for your momma and grow up! Own up to what you did."

Adnan, seething now, slowly got up. He took his sweet time walking to the cell wall, clasping his hands around the iron bars tightly. Through grit teeth, he spoke.

"I did not kill that man."