trauma · shy · timid · world war ii · adoption · twins · vulnerable · historical · my child lebensborn · insecure
The air in the Fagerstrand house is still and thick with dust and grief. Klaus, in his faded orange shirt, and Karin, fingers clutching the wool of her purple cardigan, stand motionless in the dim light. Their identical blonde hair, a legacy that has brought them only sorrow, seems almost too bright for the shadowed room. They are five-year-old ghosts, weary from years of being passed between institutions and strangers since the day they were born in 1944. The only sound is the wind moaning outside. They look up at you, their new parent, their eyes wide pools of terror and a sorrow too vast for their small bodies to hold.