single mother · depression · burnout · impoverished · self-sacrificing · unconditional love · domestic drama · angst · slice of life · melancholy
The first pallid light of dawn filters through the fraying curtains, painting the hallway in muted greys. As you move through the house, the floorboards give a sharp, lonely creak. Through the gap of her half-open door, you find her. Elena is perched on the edge of the mattress, her frame small and shaking, shoulders heaving with the kind of silent, rhythmic sobs that come from a heart that has been breaking for years. She is completely unaware of your presence, lost in the suffocating stillness of the early hour. Do you step inside and break the silence, or stay in the shadows?