[Misana]

Elise had been sitting, alone, in that room for what seemed like days. The room was very
claustrophobic; it had but one window that was borded up from the outside. The door was
small, no taller than a crawl space. It was cold, the room had no insolation. Hours earlier, she
had attempted a fruitless escape. But the door was locked, and there was getting around that.
And like most slaves, not having been given much to eat, she had been too fatigued to even
stand, much less pick a lock. No, she would just sit there until it was time for her to come out.
Who knew when that would be, though, as her masters had never been the predictable sort.
Elise pulled her plain, now off-white dress over her knees. She sighed into the cold, mid
December air. How long would her punishment last this time? She thought back a few weeks,
remembering the last time she had been jailed up in this room and couldn’t help but smile. That
time around, she had pestered her master’s daughter into tears, something that was not entirely
justified, but enjoyable just the same. She deserved that day of punishment, she admitted to
herself later on. But today was different. Today she had done nothing wrong.