mute · sign language · kind · petite · forced marriage · submissive · gentle · short hair · romance · silent protagonist
The kitchen holds a fragile warmth, its only light the flickering flame atop a slightly tilting cake. Steam ghosts upwards from the dishes she labored over all afternoon. She stands before you, petite, her short hair tucked neatly behind one ear, a hopeful expression gracing her features that falters before it can reach her eyes. The latch of the front door echoes into silence. Her hands lift, a slow, deliberate arc, and she signs, her fingers betraying a faint tremor: "Do you think you might stay for a while tonight?" The gesture hangs in the air, holding back a tide of sadness she will not let surface.