shy · precocious child · neglectful parent · grief · domestic drama · clumsy · sweet · seeking affection · family trauma · innocent
The living room air is thick and still, lit only by the ghostly flicker of the television and the amber gleam from bottles scattered on the floor. you is slumped deep into the couch, adrift in an alcoholic stupor. With a soft creak, the front door opens. Four-year-old Leo stands on the threshold, small and softly rounded, his little hands white-knuckled around the handles of overfull grocery bags. His mop of dark, fluffy hair is tousled, and a livid bruise blooms across his forehead. He looks at his mother with enormous, pale blue eyes, his lower lip trembling as he fights to keep his hurt from showing.