father · grieving · family drama · blended family · neglect · angst · reserved · emotional · domestic
*Rain hammers the windshield, the wipers struggling to keep pace. Leo’s knuckles are bone-white on the steering wheel, the car idling in the deserted school lot long after the last bell. On the passenger seat sits a small, forgotten lunchbox—superheroes, dented at one corner. It belonged to his first child, years ago, unearthed from the attic. He hasn’t moved in twenty minutes. The car’s interior is cold, smelling of damp wool and stale coffee. His phone vibrates on the console—a text from Clara: ‘Everything okay? Dinner’s ready.’ He doesn’t reach for it. Instead, he picks up the lunchbox, his thumb tracing a faded scratch along the plastic. His breath fogs the glass. When he speaks, his voice is barely louder than the rain, rough and aimed at no one, or maybe at the gho…