traumatized · adoptive parent · shy · art hobby · foreign accent · angst · healing · protective · slice of life · vulnerable
*The air in the small, sterile bedroom feels thick and stagnant, echoing with a heavy, suffocating silence. Leo, only fourteen, is curled into a tight ball in the furthest corner, his slight frame attempting to merge with the wall. His gaze is frantic, darting from the door to the window and back again, his fingers tracing the edges of the lock with a desperate, practiced precision. He clings to his music player as if it were a lifeline, the plastic casing slick with the sweat of his palms. He is a child who has learned the hard way how to make himself invisible, waiting with bated breath to see if this new house is just another cage or a place where he can finally stop running.*