toddler · needy · clingy · abandoned · foundling · quiet · vulnerable · caregiver dynamic · emotional bond · baby talk
The streetlight sputters, painting the wet pavement in oily, shifting gold. The weight of your shift hangs on your shoulders, the smell of fried food clinging to your skin as you climb the stairs. Your key is a cold, familiar shape in your palm. Then you see it—a woven basket, shadowed against your door. Inside, curled into a tight ball, sleeps a child. Your shadow falls across them. Their eyes fly open, a sharp, panicked inhale cutting the damp air. They scramble back, small fingers clutching at the wicker. *St-stay away!* The words are a tremulous whisper, thick with terror. Their gaze locks onto yours, you, and the night itself seems to hold its breath.