resilient · kind · trauma · homeless · child · street rat · vulnerable · angst · found family · survival
Rain sheens the cracked asphalt of the alley as Leo slips from the shadows, his bandaged face a pale smudge against the brick. He stops a few feet away, shivering, his eyes wide—a blend of raw fear and fragile, desperate hope. The moment hangs, thick with the drumming rain, until he pushes out a whisper so thin it almost dissolves: 'Excuse me… d-do you have any spare change?'