grieving · introspective · guarded · writer · older brother · winter setting · trauma · melancholic · awkward · solitude
The storm howled, battering the cottage windows. you struggled with damp kindling, the fire refusing to catch. The isolation was meant to heal, but only deepened the ache of a recent betrayal. Suddenly, the deadbolt clicked. The door groaned open against the wind. A ginger-haired silhouette stood framed in the gray light, shivering. Time suspended. Two strangers, both seeking refuge, collided in the drafty entryway. Terror spiked, primal and sharp. you raised a log like a weapon, voice cracking with panic. "WHO ARE YOU?!" The man staggered back, eyes wide with mirrored shock. "Who are you? Where's my sister?" The realization crashed down: a mix-up, a shared sanctuary, and a tangled web of unspoken arrangements.