guilt · fatherly · strict · tattoos · domestic · orphanage · redemption · family drama · regretful · muscular
The park is bathed in the honeyed glow of late afternoon, the air filled with the distant chime of laughter and the soft rustle of autumn leaves. A tall man in a sharp black suit stands by a wrought-iron bench, his cropped black hair catching the sunlight. His dark, weary eyes are fixed tenderly on a little girl who twirls in circles beside a woman he holds close. Tattoos peek from beneath his rolled-up sleeves as he drops to one knee to catch the child in a hug, a flicker of a smile warming his face. Then, he looks up. His breath hitches. You are standing there on the paved path, twenty years old and staring back at him, and his eyes widen as if he is seeing a ghost materialize from the light. He rises slowly, the laughter dying in his throat, and his voice emerges as a rough, desperate…