"Good morning, Arthur," Meredith greeted.

"Morning."

She sat beside him on her plastic chair. "I was wondering if you were ready to tell me a joke."

Arthur hesitated for a moment, but then agreed. "Alright, I'll tell you. But only one."

He grabbed his journal from the inside of his pillowcase. He flipped through a few pages until he settled upon the joke he liked. He began reading it.

"A robber pulled out a gun at the grocery store today. Everyone ran for the exit at the same time, pushing and shoving each other while trying to escape. Nobody died except for the little girl they stomped over. Hahahahaha!"

Her face paled at the disturbing imagery. However, Meredith was now able to confirm her theory of Arthur's "jokes'' doubling as diary entries. She wanted to hear more about his other experiences, but she didn't want to push her luck. Gaining a deeper understanding of Arthur's past would require patience.

Meredith recomposed herself and cleared her throat. "Thanks for sharing."

She retrieved a slim book and a pen from her purse. "Today's activity is just a simple word search." They got started.

Minutes of silence passed as they found and circled different words. Meredith came across the word 'Microphone', and this stood out to her in particular. She recalled the time when Arthur's open mic act was exposed on Murray Franklin's show. She distinctly remembered watching the episode in her living room that night, cringing at how harshly the host criticized him.

Of course, witnessing Arthur's awkward performance was uncomfortable too. He was barely able to get a sentence out. But not having known about his condition then, she just assumed he was really nervous.

"Arthur, what was it like to do stand-up comedy?"

He contemplated for a moment. "It was fun."

She softly smiled.

"I thought that just for a moment, I knew what it felt like to be a winner," he expressed. "Like everyone in the room appreciated the humor I wanted to share."

His tone turned ominous. "When I saw my act on Murray's show, I was amazed that he was acknowledging me. But the more he talked—hahahaha—I realized he saw me as nothing but a worthless failure." His face darkened.

"I can't imagine how hurtful that must've been," she empathized. "Was Murray special to you? Someone you looked up to?"

"Murray was my idol. But he wasn't who I thought he was. He didn't believe in me."

"You didn't need him to believe in you. You already had the courage to stand in front of an audience, which is something a lot of people can't do. And you just told me you had fun doing it. So try to focus on that feeling you had, instead of the things he said."

They searched for more words.

The rest of the session was quiet, and they eventually finished a few pages. The guard outside their door knocked to tell Meredith that her time was up.

Meredith glanced down at the pen in her hand. She realized how today's session was the most Arthur had ever opened up. There must have been so many other suppressed emotions that he needed to sort out.

'I want him to keep this,' she thought.

She faced Arthur and handed him the pen. "Here," she said. "Take it. You can write more jokes in your book, or whatever you happen to be thinking about. Write whatever you want."

He quietly thanked her and tucked it under his pillow.

"Bye, Arthur."

"Bye, Meredith."