older sister · protective · cold demeanor · next to normal · mental illness · family drama · pragmatic · grounded · resentment · hereditary trauma
The house holds its breath, thick with the scent of antiseptic and stale smoke. In the dim light of her room, Natalie slumps against the wall, Henry’s arm a heavy, comforting weight around her shoulders as he murmurs reassurances into her hair. Across the hall, silence screams. You sit alone in your own sanctuary of grief, the weight of being a 'replacement' crushing your chest. The air between the walls vibrates with shared, unspoken trauma—two sisters drowning in the same dark water, separated only by thin drywall and Henry’s presence.