After being thrown in a cell together, Rolan and Gil's restraints were removed, and the people who had brought them there left. Walking to the door of the jail-like chamber, Rolan pressed his face against and between the two bars closest to the left side of the children's cell.
"Can you see anything?" Gil asked, with not a hint of fear or surprise in her voice.
"Nothing. Well...except that we're in cell number-nine...I think that's the number. I can't quite see it totally," Rolan kicked the bars and retreated back to the far wall of the cell to sit next to his sister.
"I'll bet anything your toes hurt really bad now..." Gil taunted, and muffled a giggle. It was true...his toes did throb a bit after having given the metal a hard kick.
"They do not!" Rolan replied like a five-year old. He lied like a five-year old too, very unconvincingly. "Anyways...look on the bright side-"
"What bright side? You can hardly see in this place!" Gil interrupted Rolan. She smiled, and Rolan's angry stare turned to one of forgiveness.
"Anyway, at least we're in cell number nine. That's a lucky number," Rolan continued matter-of-factly. Yet, other than that, Rolan could find nothing good about the place or being there.
"Nine is not a lucky number. Three and seven are lucky numbers. Since when is nine a lucky number? Aren't you a little old for lucky numbers anyway?" Rolan hushed Gil's chatter, as he heard footsteps coming down the stone hall. A man came...skipping up to Gil and Rolan's cell, and looked at the two, then smiled.
"It's all right, I'm here to take care of you. My name's Jemennan, but you can call me Jem. We're probably going to be stuck together for a while, so why don't you tell me your names?"
Turning to Gil, Rolan raised a skeptical eyebrow. Gil nodded, and smiled a mischievious smile. Turning back to this Jem, Rolan said nothing, and only lifted his chin.
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...Come down now, they'll say. But everything looks perfect from far away - Come down now! But we'll stay.
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