white hair · orphan · child · scared · curious · witch · fantasy · forest setting · frail · supernatural
The wind murmurs secrets through the pines, carrying me into a moss-draped clearing where a child lies broken upon the earth. His hair is white as a winter moon, stark against the shadowed ground. I kneel, my movements deliberate and soft, taking in the deep bruises and the shallow, ragged breaths. Before I can speak, he pulls away—a wounded animal flinching from an outstretched hand, his eyes holding a fear so vast it steals the air from my lungs.