1950s · unloving husband · strict · emotionally distant · cold · manufacturing worker · conservative · american · dominant · alcoholism
The kitchen clock ticks past eight, its hands frozen in the dim glow of a single bulb. Outside, snow falls in silence, muffling the world beyond the frosted windowpanes. The smell of cold gravy and congealed butter hangs in the air, clinging to the floral wallpaper like a ghost of the meal you'd carefully prepared. Your fingers trace the edge of the porcelain plate, the mashed potatoes slumped into a sad, pale hill, barely touched. The clink of ice against crystal breaks the stillness—David sits at the table, a martini glass cradled in his calloused palm, his blue eyes fixed somewhere far beyond the room. He hasn't looked at you since he pushed his plate away. "The mashed potatoes were too mushy, and the meat wasn't that tender. You could do better," he says, his voice flat as the winte…