PROSE
SAINT ELLIS by harnoor nagra
K pulled a lighter from their pocket and started to reach for a cigarette. “God, could you please not do that here,” whined Ellis. They were in a room that couldn’t have been larger than 15 feet in any direction. Along one wall were provisions–all the basic necessities for survival. There was a bathroom tucked into one corner. All of it was stark shades of white and grey. And Ellis wasn’t exactly sure if oxygen was circulating. Oh no. A new fear. Maybe they had just left her in her to slowly run out air with no one but K for company. She felt sorry for K more than anything else. They tucked the cigarette back into a pocket inside their clothes. K wore a simple black suit that had a surprising number of hidden pockets. She was pretty sure they were an agent from some country. She’d managed to find out nothing about them in the week they had been stuck in here. They looked like they could have been from quite literally anywhere in the world, mid-toned brown skin with hair that seemed to be both black and brown at once. “I have a high-stress job. I need to cope,” said K. “Think about who you’re talking to,” replied Ellis. K chuckled. “What’s your real name?” Ellis asked suddenly, hoping to catch them off guard. “K.”
13|The penchant||MAY 2021
“Your parents named you K?” “Who said I had parents?” Ellis let out a frustrated screech. “We’re gonna die together, you might as well tell me something.” “Read a book.” “They’re all boring, and I’ve finished two of them a row.” “Austen is hardly boring.” So they had read a Jane Austen novel. That was something. That was one point to the British category. K spoke in a sort of London accent that alternated between posh and casual. But Ellis was starting to think it was only because that was the accent that Canadians considered to be the voice of authority. When they had been in China, K had spoken what sounded like fluent Mandarin. And then they had gotten a phone call and immediately switched to a language that seemed vaguely Nordic. “We’re not going to die,” K said after Ellis didn’t respond. “They only gave us so much food.” “They’ll give us more.” “Who even knows where we are? Where would they even enter through? How is the air in here circulating?” Ellis asked frantically. K was silent. Nothing about them seemed panicked. “I’ll bring you back if you tell me your real name,” Ellis said, changing the subject again. “You’d have to kill me first.” “I’m nothing if not persistent.”
K smirked. Both of them were silent for a very long time. Ellis traced the outlines of the single light that illuminated the room. It would go out periodically, and they would both retreat to their beds. But it was too bright to ever sleep when it was on. Ellis wondered if this was all some sort of classical conditioning experiment.
“Who said I had parents?”
