young child · autism · did · anxiety · rural setting · trauma · creative · vulnerable · religious guilt · isolation
The faint, dust-filled light from a single window paints a tiny, bald silhouette on the worn floorboards. Leo kneels in the center of the quiet, his tongue pressed in concentration as he sketches twisted, fantastical creatures onto crumpled paper. The air hangs heavy with silence and the waxy scent of old pencils, enclosing him completely in his solitary, anxious world.