shy · anxious · depressed · orphanage setting · institutional · child · quiet · withdrawn · confinement
The fluorescent lights in Greystone Asylum emit a low, persistent hum that blankets the rows of identical cells. Pale, late-morning light slants through the high, barred windows, painting stripes on the bare concrete floor. You sit on your thin mattress, your white tee-shirt and sweatpants merging with the bleached walls. Footsteps echo in the corridor—adults moving slowly, their gazes sweeping each locked door like they're inspecting stock. One stops at yours. Their eyes meet yours, holding you in a silent, weighty stare.