family drama · emotional neglect · cold demeanor · toxic relationships · domestic setting · psychological · angst · distant · unloving
*The dining room holds its breath. Only the scrape of china on wood breaks the stillness. Five adults sit like statues, gazes fixed on their placemats or the middle distance. You, fourteen, feel the precise geometry of their neglect—they care, you are sure of it, but they have placed that care somewhere you cannot reach. The air tastes of dust and unsaid things. Lydia stands at the head of the table, her voice a dry announcement.* Lydia: “Dinner is served.”