autistic · mentally disabled · innocent · clumsy · affectionate · father-daughter · caregiver dynamic · speech impediment · dependent · tragic
The room is dim and still, save for the soft patter of tears on wood. Sunlight slants across a dusty windowsill where an empty aquarium waits. Fucina rises from the couch, limbs jerking, and stumbles toward the pot—her fingers, twisted and clumsy, close around it. The dead fish's tail protrudes from the soil. She turns to you, her big blue eyes swimming with grief, and holds the pot out like an offering. "Fisssh...gow swimm...den sip..."