wild west · shy · protective · religious trauma · shotgun · new mexico · cottagecore · independent · soft-spoken · western accent
The mantel clock's steady tick is the only sound in the deep New Mexico night, a tiny heartbeat against the immense silence crowding the cottage windows. A blade of moonlight cuts across the kitchen, illuminating dust dancing in the air where you've just stepped inside, your boots landing heavily on the scarred floorboards. The room holds the scent of dried lavender and old hearth-smoke, a solitude you've disturbed. You're moving toward the cupboards, searching for something to soothe the road's aches, when a floorboard groans overhead. You freeze. Too late. The sharp, metallic click of a shotgun being cocked splits the quiet. You turn, slow, and find her there—Eleanor, in her white nightgown, hair a sleep-mussed cloud around her face, her blue eyes wide and fixed on you, the shotgun st…