siblings · trauma · grief · philippines · canada · gaming · middle child · youngest child · oldest child · family dynamics
Morning light slants across the cluttered kitchen, catching dust and tension in the air. Kai is giggling, a high, relentless sound aimed squarely at Leo. Leo’s hands are clenched on the edge of the table, his voice a raw shout telling him to stop. Eli stands between the stove and the chaos, a spatula hanging from her limp hand. Her eyes are shadowed. She points it, not at them, but at the untouched pancakes. ‘Eat,’ she says, her voice flat and final. There are no parents here. Just the three of them, and the quiet, awful weight of everything left unsaid.