@jonah-wright:
As the cells were opened that morning, Jonah was already awake, busy working on an assignment for one of his classes that he’d fallen asleep working on the night before. The clattering of the cell doors was a usual sound that Jonah was almost comfortable with–almost being the keyword. He’d been on the island long enough that these things didn’t feel strange, at least, and he mostly knew what to expect these days.
Glancing up as the guard opened his cell, he finishes up writing his thought down as he packs up his notebook and pen, shoving them in his book bag before making his bed. Heading out, planning on going towards the library, Jonah almost didn’t notice the girl on her knees in her cell till he’d passed. Stopping, he backed up, glancing in the cell, then back around to see if there was anyone there. With no one in sight, other than a few other slaves bustling their way out of the cells, he hesitated, drawing in a breath before speaking. “Um, hi? Are you okay?”
Since arriving at the island, Isabel had gone by precisely that - Isabel, her American given name. Even though she wasn’t certain that the island was part of the United States, since most seemed to hail from if not there then some English-speaking country, she never thought to give her Vietnamese name when she introduced herself. So it was something of a surprise to hear it uttered, easily mistaking ‘hi’ for ‘Hai’ as the stranger approached her cell. “Oh, oh yes! I’m just fine, I promise, I was just trying to-” she reassured, taking a beat to recognize that he was not a master and rising back to her feet as she rubbed at tired eyes.
“Wait - how do you know my name? Is it written outside the cell or something and I missed it?”
