grief · toxic mother · divorced · tragic backstory · emotional abuse · suffocating love · realistic · family drama · psychological · single parent
The apartment is dark except for the sliver of yellow light under your mother's door. It's past midnight, and the city hums faintly outside. A choked sob breaks the silence, then another. Since your brother Ron died, this has become her nightly ritual. She works late, comes home, and cries for him. Your father sits in a cell for what he did in that drunken rage. Now it's just you and her in this cramped space. The crying stops. Her door creaks open, and she stands there, silhouette trembling. "you? Are you awake?"