"HEY!! LET ME IN!!!" A child was banging against the door of a home. "DAD!!! DAD!!"
Barely above the age of thirteen he was kicking and screaming against the door in the middle of the night.
The door was rattling heavily but not budging. In frustration the little boy kicked the door a few times before running past the window and attempting to climb a fence.
"DAD!" He called out once more his little body struggling to pull himself up.
With a painful thud he crashed back into the grass beneath him, his surroundings blurring except that fence.
The child's face flushed red, repeatedly climbing and failing on the same fence over and over until he finally felt too exhausted to breathe.
Among the blur the sky was lined up with stars shining down at him. A surge of frustration took over. "WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING AT!"
He snapped at seemingly no one, his little hands clenching into fists. "YOU THINK THIS IS FUNNY? THAT I CAN'T CLIMB THE FENCE!?"
The boy's screams echoed through the empty space, his fingers bleeding as he recomposed himself for another climb.
His struggles became obsolete when he untriumphantly fell onto the grass once more. Tears welled up as he kicked and screamed around in frustration letting out a good cry when suddenly the fence sunk deeper and deeper until it was buried in the dirt.
Confused, the little boy got on his feet, wrapping up his little tantrum and strutting past the line of buried wood.
"Dad?" He called out once more walking into the home's garden surrounded by fences once more.
Not focusing on those he immediately made his way to the wooden door that led inside the home.
Seeing another way in he quickly ran over, pulling the handle down but it wouldn't open the door.
With a snap it broke off leaving the boy helpless. "Dad.." He sobbed out weakly clutching onto the handle tightly attempting to find some sort of comfort in it.
The child took a step back, turning left and right making sure no one was there until he decided to sit down in the middle of the garden playing with the broken handle.
The sun rose and the sun set. The sky was filled with different colours but he wouldn't look. No, he refused to.
He grew hungry, tired but couldn't sleep. Lying on his back the clouds slowly moved to cover the stars when the faint thud of steps loomed closer.
"Dad..?" The boy weakly called out looking up at a faceless shadow leaning over him.
"Hey…"
"HEY!"
Mikel's eyes suddenly snapped open, his body sweaty from a nightmare. Before him was a guard placing down a piece of bread filled with rice.
I fell asleep…
Just woken up he didn't have much of an appetite he instead took the opportunity to close his eyes once more this time aiming for a more harmless dream.
"HEY!" The guard boomed, not managing to get a reaction out of the prisoner. "You're supposed to eat! We changed the meat to rice so you wouldn't starve to death."
"Chill… I'll eat later…" Mikel yawned, confusing the man.
"Someone will check on you in an hour, if your meal isn't finished by then repercussions will be taken." With that final warning the guard marched off leaving the captive to his own sleep.
"How lame.." He muttered under his breath and pulled the bread closer so he could grab it once he's done napping. His eyes were about to flutter back shut but the call of a man opposite of his cell caught his attention.
"Psst." The man whispered, getting an annoyed grumble in response. "You don't wanna eat it? Throw it over." He offered with a wide smile.
"Nah." Mikel immediately refused knowing well he wanted to eat it later. But that did give him an idea. "I can give you any of my more meaty meals, I'm not a fan of meat."
That was a lie, but he wasn't about to confess his ideals to a fellow prisoner. "Sounds perfect to me."
Taking the opportunity to observe the man opposite of him had some pretty refined muscles but he had been here for quite a while so it was impressive seeing him still hold his own so well.
Mikel on the other hand immediately went back to losing his weight he worked hard to earn.
So unfair!!
Deciding not to wallow in his fate for too long he shut his eyes once more, ignoring the blatant staring from the fellow prisoner.
Definitely more than an hour passed and no one came by then Mikel decided to finally take a bite and finish his meal for now. When he laid back down onto the ground he went back into slumber. That was all he could do, eat and sleep.
It was nothing like the prisons where he came from, well..
He stopped to consider for a second. Wherever he went most men had some sort of strong physique or burly looks. If he didn't know any better I'd make sense not to give them training gear to get even stronger.
If anything the chains on everyone he saw while coming in were quite heavy. Having them roam freely and exercise probably isn't convenient, especially for prisoners that are already capable of demolition.
His chains on the other hand were rather thin compared to his neighbour in the other cell. No surprises there, he alone could not break a single chain no matter how thin it was.
Even if he did, there was no getting past those thick bars with those shackles on, even if his body fit, the pure metal around his wrists and ankles wouldn't even let him get any further than that.
Maybe it was because of all the sleeping he's done prior but he could feel himself rustle awake multiple times over the littlest of things.
He couldn't tell night from day so when he finally opened his eyes and saw the man opposite of him doing pushups he was about to close his eyes back up only to realise he wore no shackles.
Wait…
He snapped his eyes back open, double checking the situation.
HE'S ACTUALLY CHAINLESS!! No wonder he was looking so well! He just workouts when no one is looking!
Realisation dawned on him and his eyes shut once more.
Exactly, when no one's looking. Neither am I!
He could hear the faint grunts and huffs after a while. Temptation took over despite his better judgement.
That didn't stop him from occasionally taking a peek or two. It had gotten to a point when he opened his eye for just a second only to catch the man laying on his stomach smiling from ear to ear, head resting on his palms while directly facing the other man.
"Heeey~" The man cooed from his cell only to make the other choke in embarrassment.
Nevermind…
He shut his eye tightly, refusing to grace the man with any more attention than he deserved.
"Well don't ignore me now! I know you're not asleep!" The other whispered loud enough for Mikel to hear. "You won't tell right?"
I'm no snitch… I think.
Granted, Mikel wasn't, to some extent. He would always run to his friends to expose the newest things he witnessed and vice versa.
"No." He curtly responded.
Besides, how did you even do that!?
Deciding to take another peek his breath hitched when he saw the man outside the cell sprawled before his bars.
OH COME ON!
There was no hiding the distasteful look spread across his features which surprisingly managed to make the other flinch. "Hey hey!"
He waved his hands with a toothy grin. "I can help you get unchained!"
"How are you free in the first place?"
Mikel immediately regretted that question when he saw the man get up, the door to his cell unlocked with the man barely raising his hand.
A deep mournful sigh escaped the man's lips as the other barged in and shut the door behind him with a far too joyful expression.
"I have been waiting for this question for ages!" He exclaimed but Mikel immediately doubted him.
"Aren't you worried about others hearing you?"
"Don't worry about it." The man quickly dismissed while sitting down before the chained man. "So! Let's get to it! I have magical abilities obviously!"
His smile was a disease and Mikel wished he had disinfectant for it.
"Look.. I can free you just as easily." With a clank the cuffs around Mikel's right wrist clicked open, dropping onto the ground. "So they didn't detain you because?"
"Because they don't know silly!" The man poked Mikel's forehead which earned him a scowl deeper than the weight of the situation even deserved.
"And you're telling me because?"
Mikel rubbed his head as if wiping off the man's touch, making the other gasp in offense. "Seriously.. What's got your mood this bad! Did someone steal your candy as a baby!?"
Finishing up his dramatics he quickly leaned back, and forth, this time without invading the man's space. "I'm telling you because it's boring keeping this secret forever." With a dismissive shrug he suddenly watched Mikel's chained hand move closer until it was stopped right before it could touch him.
Slowly retreating his hands the man tilted his head. "Did you just try touching me? You have a free arm you know." He pointed out the obvious and the thief only shrugged.
"So.. Anyway." The man waved. "I just wanna have a little talking buddy since I know YOU'RE going nowhere." That emphasis earned him a slight kick and an eyeroll simultaneously.
"Hey!" He whined.
"So then why aren't you just escaping? You have the capabilities and muscles." Mikel sighed.
"Why thank you.." The man quickly flattered himself, almost sending Mikel's eyeballs to check if his brain was still there after this draining conversation.
"Well as much as I am a capable," the man flexed his muscles. "Strong," he posed himself to show off more of his biceps. "Handsome young man!" Finishing with a final flex of his pecks he sat back down. "I don't feel like it."
Instead of getting a response he watched the man take a deep breath to the point where his chest puffed up fully before letting it all out in one loud sigh.
"MAN ARE YOU CRANKY! HOW OLD ARE YOU!?" The man finally snapped at the sheer mood of the prisoner before him. such a debby downer!!
He didn't get an response to his question, instead he watched the other simply turn his head away instead.
His jaw dropped at the outrageous attitude of this man. "You know I can break you out right?"
No response.
"But I won't break out myself because this prison is for people with weak crimes…" His explanation started trailing off seeing the man show no interest. Instead he watched him click the chain back into place to lock his wrist back up.
"I think I took the wrong approach here.." The man got up and walked out the cell door and made his way back into his own and chained himself back up.
Never fails! Peace and quiet at last!
Mikel leaned his head back with a satisfied smile making the other man scoff out loud at the audacity.
"Real happy over there huh!!" He whined from his cell lazily kicking his legs.