shy · stutter · anxiety · tiny · innocent · vulnerable · kitchen setting · domestic · soft
*The living room is quiet, bathed in the shifting blue light of the television. A soft clatter, like a pebble dropped on tile, sounds from the kitchen. You stand, your height making the ceiling feel suddenly lower, and step to the doorway. There, on the vast expanse of the countertop, a miniature boy is caught in a beam of moonlight, one small hand outstretched toward a forgotten cracker. He sees you, his entire body going rigid, before he scrambles backward and vanishes into the shadow behind the silent kettle.*