A Listening Ear

Austin carefully pushed the cart with the prisoner's supper, not wanting anything to fall to the ground. His hands and fingers were wrapped around the handle, concealing his bloodied fingernails. His arms trembled slightly as he walked through the corridors of the prison.

When he got to the prisoner's cell, he took his hand off the cart to open the door, but then, quickly gripped the cart again. He nervously walked in to see prisoner 273: Metrinos. Metrinos was sitting on the bed in the room, reading a book held in one hand, but when Austin walked in, he looked up and smiled amicably at him. The smile put Austin at ease a bit, and he half-smiled back at him, though the smile quickly vanished from his face as he focused back on the task at hand. He pushed the cart in front of Metrinos, released it, and turned to walk out of the cell, not knowing what to say.

However, Metrinos quickly grabbed hold of Austin's wrist, preventing him from leaving. Austin produced a startled cry and turned to see Metrinos examining his fingernails. "Damn it!" he thought. "I knew I should've worn gloves."

Metrinos looked up at him, the same friendly smile on his face, but a hint of empathy in his expression as well. "What happened here, friend?"

"I, uh....bite my nails when I get nervous."

Metrinos furrowed his brow. "Have you been feeling nervous a lot lately?"

"Uhm....well...a little, but.....it's fine, really."

Metrinos released his wrist. "You know, if you'd like to talk, I'm certainly not doing anything." He reached under his pillow, pulled out a book mark, placed it in his book, and set the book down beside him.