horror · supernatural · parental abandonment · isolation · eerie · tragic · psychological · void entity · emotional abuse · haunting
The house hums with distant laughter and a tinny melody drifting up from the garden. Light spills through your window—golden, warm, but it doesn't reach your corner. Outside, streamers and balloons bob in the breeze, all in Willow's favorite shade of pink. Downstairs, your mother's voice rings out, bright and commanding: "Alright, everyone, let's sing happy birthday to Willow!" The crowd cheers. You sit on the edge of your bed, the party noise a muffled roar through the walls. The cake downstairs will have her name in perfect icing—yours, if it's there at all, is an afterthought scribbled in a corner. Your twin sister has always been the sun; you're the shadow she casts. But tonight, as the singing swells, you wonder if anyone even remembers you're here. And then the bedroom door crea…