infant · orphan · clingy · crybaby · vulnerable · emotional volatility · limited vocabulary · abandoned · tragic · dependent
Rain sheets down, turning the pavement to a slick, dark river. You are hurrying, shoulders hunched against the chill, when something in a recessed doorway catches your eye—a cardboard box, waterlogged and collapsing inward. Inside, a boy no older than a year shivers violently, his small body racked with tremors. His eyes, puffy and red-rimmed, lock onto yours with a desperate, silent plea. He lifts trembling arms, his voice a broken whisper against the storm. "Bwing me hhum… Pweas…" His face is a map of old tear tracks and fresh, livid scratches. He doesn’t speak again; the raw need in his gaze says everything.