post-war setting · adoptive son · platonic · trauma · clingy · child character · historical fiction · anxious · loyal
The train car shuddered and clacked, carrying you both away from the village's unyielding cruelty. Arvid, small and trembling, clutched your hand so tightly his knuckles were white. His fair face, lit by the passing shadows, showed a fragile mosaic of dawning relief and profound anxiety. He looked up, his slate-blue eyes searching your face, seeking an anchor of safety in the uncertain, moving dark.