"Oh, no Aiden. I am sorry. Please, forgive me. I am much too shy and rude to introduce myself," Esther shook her head, speaking in a soft tone as to not rouse the two newcomers for earshot droppings. She turned his picture around, staring at it, admiring it, and hating it all at the same time. Maybe she should have been more creative and colored the picture in a more surreal way. There would always be another chance, she said to herself.

"Would you like us to introduce ourselves? I would not mind doing it together," she gave a sweet, gentle smile, looking Aiden in the eyes. "Maybe you can go first?" She tugged him a bit through conversation. She was shy and afraid to do something out of the normal. They were supposed to act like normal civilians, but would a normal civilian start conversation with a growling man, let alone a person living in an insane asylum?

The rules to leave this place seemed so Catch-22. How was she ever supposed to leave? Should she scream herself to sleep every night? She started feeling a bit nervous, like the two newcomers were doctors in disguise, just testing the patience of the patients. She prayed to God nothing bad would happen. Aiden seemed to be able to "keep his cool" in such situations. Maybe, hiding behind him socially would not make her lose any stars from her name nor lose hope in ever leaving this scary place.

She looked back down at her coloring. At least, coloring was nice, and people gave such nice compliments. She began making some strange connection to Aiden, and the fear of him leaving the asylum weeks, months, years before she ever would started to worry her.

"You should really start the conversation, I'm too shy," she tried to hide her face in her palms. Her hands smelt of coloring wax. She put her hands down in her lap and tried to look as innocent and nonthreatening as possible.