Confines

The Prisoner was wallowing in his little fit for a bit. Maybe, in this defiled state, he thought, I can still find peace. He tried not the think of the invasion of privacy the others pulled earlier. So much for that. The sun had set, it was a cloudy night. Due to an uncontrollable surge of whatever it was that separated him from the city he had dearly wanted to call home, but now couldn't go back to; not in this sorry condition; he was almost happy not to see the glow from his face break through the otherwise seemingly total darkness. Maybe I can just stay here and disappear, he thought. I can just melt into this nothingness and be as if I don't exist. I won't bother anyone; they won't bother me; it'd be great. He couldn't fool himself with such hopeful thoughts. It was so quiet in that place that he could hear more of whatever had been flowing out of his face-holes join the puddle to caress him. But wait, what was the other sound? He forced himself to sit up, and the continuous sound of liquid pouring from his visage nearly drowned the growing sound of quick footsteps. He whispered to himself "No... But how? Why? Wherever I go, why do they always find me?" Considering his damaged eyes, he's wondered if maybe he'd gone blind without noticing. No, there was a glow in the distance. It was a color the others had associated with penitence. It's too late for that now, he thought.

Mistari crept around. She noticed the pathetic little thing she thought she was helping. "Hey." She spoke softly. The Prisoner just stared at her from the far wall, remnants of his sorrow everywhere, even still escaping his eyes. That and a touch of anger. Mistari gasped at the sight, putting her hands to her mouth. It was much worse than she thought. For a second, he'd felt the fear he was familiar with creeping up, but before it actually overflowed, a sensation of rage took its place. He tried his best to glare, but just made more of a mess. Of course she blocked his only exist. Of course the only place that seemed livable, considering the circumstances, only had one access point. "Oh, my. Are you okay?" Mistari shakily whispered.

'Of course not!' is what he wanted to say, but for one reason, he wasn't going to let her hear his voice. For a second, he assumed she meant the multicolored essence smeared all over the cave. He couldn't care less about that. Probably wouldn't have even happened if she wasn't such an intrusive scoundrel. This wasn't the problem, it was a merely a symptom. He couldn't stand the way she looked at him, as if she suddenly understood him or something. She had proved herself too dense and her judgement too clouded. He glanced at the wall, then the ground, then the opening. Maybe I can make a break for it, it was a gamble, but I'm out of options, he thought. He calmly walked to it, seeing if she'd let him pass.

"Look, I'm sorry, I thought you'd be happy if you just realised what it meant to really be free." Mistari's words made The Prisoner stop in his tracks. He couldn't think of a better metaphor for the whole ordeal than this. Mistari was speaking of freedom whilst confining him. He'd like to think of himself as one who personally liked confinement, but this, this wasn't the kind he wanted. He thought back to his cell back in the city. All alone. No interaction, save for the instructions of some unidentified voice that as far as he was concerned belonged to the city itself. Until some other unidentified someone ruined it for, well, seemingly only him. That was fine. This was something else.