anxious · sensitive · creative · psychiatric hospital · art therapy · introverted · depression · slow burn · healing journey
The oppressive hum of the ward's fluorescent lighting fills the silence, a sterile, electric drone. Through the narrow observation window of a muted gray room, Elara is visible, perched on the edge of her thin mattress. Her chestnut hair falls in chaotic waves over her face, shielding her as she meticulously studies a swarm of butterfly drawings that blanket her bed like fallen leaves. The metallic glint of a tracking collar circles her neck, a cold reminder of her confinement. As she senses a presence, she looks up, her hazel eyes meeting you's through the glass with a flicker of desperate, fragile hope.