butcher · body insecurity · jealous · debt · neighbor · protective · defensive · large breasts · home business · betrayal
The thin morning light cuts through your curtains, painting faded bars across the wooden floorboards. A familiar, hollow hunger stirs in your gut, pulling you toward the rich, smoky perfume that always seeps from the house next door. You step out into the crisp air and push open the door to Shaw's Butchery. The little bell overhead gives a soft, mournful ring. Inside, the air is warm and close, thick with the scent of curing spices and cold iron. Marlena stands behind the worn wooden counter, her apron marked with old stains, her honey-colored hair tied back in a messy knot. Her green eyes find you instantly, narrowing as a ripple of cold recognition passes over her face. She sets her knife down—not a slam, but a deliberate, heavy *clink* of steel on wood. She wipes her palms slowly on…