A Lunatic's Lament

10

Vic and I were left separated for a couple of days after what happened. The first day I simply presumed that man, who I still haven't found out the name of, just wanted us to have a little time on our own to reflect on what happened. The last thing I wanted was to reflect about anything though, so I spent my day pushing all thoughts from my mind and instead I counted every brick on the walls a hundred times over. I felt like I was a mental patient in a hospital, but it really did help me keep distracted.

By the second day with no contact from Vic, I wondered what that man was playing at. He forced us to get so close and then separated us. It didn't make much sense to me. I didn't count the bricks that day. Instead I allowed myself a few minutes to tell myself that what happened happened and I needed to accept that and move on or else I'll never be in the right frame of mind to support myself through this ordeal.

It was the day after that and I was beginning to get worried. I had woken up a few minutes ago and realized I was still alone. Just as quick as my worry began, it disappeared when both the metal and bars lifted.

"Vic?" I called out straight away. Seconds later he appeared, smiling, and climbed through.

"Finally. I was beginning to worry that he wouldn't let us see each other again," he said.

At first I thought it was a little odd for him to be smiling because last time I saw him he was such a mess. Then I realized that with him being alone for so long he was probably happy every time he got to talk to someone.

"Yeah I was getting worried too," I told him and returned the small smile. I sat up on my bed, sitting cross legged. He came over and sat next to me.

"Anything new happen in here?" he asked. I shook my head.

"Nope, you?" I asked, but he shook his head too.

I guess nothing happening counts as a good thing, right? It was a lot better than one of us being hurt. After hearing a banging sound in the chute as something was dropped, Vic and I looked at each other nervously. Last time this happened we had to do a horrible thing. Vic didn't make a move, so I gathered the courage to do it. I got up and stood in front of the small metal door of the chute. I placed my hand on the handle and held my breath while I opened it. I let out a sigh of relief the second I saw what was inside, but then I was confused.

"Playing cards," I said, I picked up the two decks of cards and closed the door.

"What?" Vic asked, sounding equally confused as I was. I turned back and held the two packs up to him.

"He gave us playing cards," I told him again.

"Oh..." he trailed off.

He stood up and took one from me. We both opened them suspiciously, but there was nothing wrong with them.

"So...do you know any games?" he asked.

I looked back up at him and shrugged, "Uh, I know go fish?"

I had never really played card games before, or at least not since I was a lot younger. He looked at me with an unimpressed expression.

"Go fish? Really? Are you like 5?" he teased.

"Shut up," I grumbled.

The atmosphere was so different compared to the last two times we were together. Those times were intense, right now though things were light hearted. It was really strange to feel light hearted in this place. I guess we were just relieved that the other was okay and we finally weren't alone.

"Let's make a house of cards," I suggested. He raised his eyebrows as if he were thinking about it carefully.

"I've never made one before," he said.