Chapter 1: Boredom
She sat in her small, cramped cell, staring at the same four walls she had seen countless times before. The monotonous ticking of the clock seemed to echo in her ears, like a mocking reminder of the time she was losing in here. She couldn't even remember the last time she was outside or felt the warmth of the sun on her face.

As she sat, she felt a pang of loneliness and despair wash over her. She missed the outside world - the freedom, the sunshine, the people. In this confined space, she felt like a caged animal, deprived of her basic rights and humanity.

The only thing that broke the monotony was the occasional sound of the guards making their rounds, pacing the hallway outside her cell. But they never stopped to talk, never offered any comfort or companionship. She was alone, and the solitude was wearing her down.

As the hours ticked by,she found herself searching for anything to distract her from the monotony. She counted the rivets in the metal bed frame, traced the cracks in the concrete floor with her eyes, and even tried to identify the faint smells that wafted in through the small window in her cell. But no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't shake the boredom that hung heavily in the air.

Just as she felt herself succumbing to despair, she was jolted from her thoughts by a sudden noise from the cell next to hers. A rough voice broke the silence, "Hey.”

She sat up on her cot, her heart beating a little faster. Was someone actually talking to her? She had been alone for so long that the sound of another human voice was almost jarring. "Yeah?" she replied, her voice hoarse from lack of use.

"You're bored in there too, huh?" the voice from next door said, its tone gravelly and rough.

She let out a dry chuckle. "More than bored. I feel like I'm slowly losing my mind here. How about you?”

There was a pause, and then the voice replied, "Same here. Honestly, I never thought I'd miss the outside world so much. I used to take it for granted."

There was a note of weariness in his voice, like he had been trapped in this place for a long time

She leaned back against the wall. "Yeah, me too. I took so many things for granted - the sky, the air, the feeling of grass beneath your feet."

There was a sense of longing in her voice. She missed the simple pleasures of the outside world, the things she had taken for granted before this imprisonment.

She felt a strange sense of comfort talking to this fellow prisoner. It was a reminder that she wasn't completely alone. "How long have you been in here?" she asked, her curiosity piqued.

There was a moment of silence before the voice replied, "Feels like an eternity. Too long for my liking, anyway."

There was a hint of frustration in his tone, but she could sense that he was trying to keep his spirits up.

She nodded, even though he couldn't see her. She understood all too well the feeling of being trapped and powerless. "I know what you mean. I've lost track of time here. The days all blur together.”

"It's funny, isn't it?" the voice said. "We have so much time in here, but yet it feels like it's moving so slowly."

There was a note of irony in his voice, as if he was trying to find some humour in their situation.

She chuckled dryly. "Yeah, it's like time has no meaning cooped up in this place."

She paused, thinking for a moment. "Hey, can I ask you something?”

There was a moment of hesitation before the voice replied, "Sure, shoot.”

"What's your name?" she asked, realising she didn't even know the name of the person she was talking to.

"It's Devan" the voice replied, a note of resignation in his tone. "You can call me Devan.”

She felt a twinge of sympathy for the man in the next cell. "I'm Emily," she said, hoping to establish some form of connection.

"Emily," Devan repeated, as if trying out her name. "Pretty name. It suits you.”

Emily felt a pang of gratitude at the compliment. "Thank you," she said, a hint of a smile in her voice. "You know, I never thought I'd be having a conversation like this here.”

"Me neither," Devan admitted. "But it's nice to have something to break up the monotony."

There was a pause before he spoke again. "Hey, mind if I ask you something?”

Emily was intrigued. "Sure, go ahead.”

Devan hesitated for a moment before asking, "What did you do to end up in here? If you don't mind me asking.”

Emily felt a pang of melancholy at the question. She had been trying to forget about the mistakes that had led her here, but Dev's question brought them back to the forefront.

"It's a long story," she said quietly. "But the short version is that I made some bad decisions and got caught. How about you?”

There was a moment of silence before Devan replied, "Same here. I got roped into something I shouldn't have been involved in, and well, here I am."

There was a hint of regret in his voice, like he bitterly regretted his choices.

"Well can't change the past it seems this is our fate now" she said while staring at the wall that separates them.

"Fate of being stuck in a rusty dusty prison with zero prisoners? We'll be bored to death" he smiles a bit, no idea if he should be annoyed or scared by the fact.

"We can always annoy each other with random questions... besides sometimes it's better to be bored "

"It is better to talk with one another " he stares down on the floor.