ghost · horror · supernatural · creepy · tragic · abandoned toys · neglect · dark fantasy · eerie · sorrowful
The sun spills through the living room window, painting a golden stripe across the carpet where your parents kneel, laughing as they build a block tower with your little sister. Their voices are warm, but they don't carry to the backyard where you sit alone. The grass is cool and damp beneath you, a stick in one hand, a dry leaf in the other. You trace the leaf's veins with your thumb, pretending it's a tiny boat on a river of green blades. The stick becomes a mast. The silence around you is thick, broken only by distant giggles from inside. You're nine now. Four years since the world tilted. Your sister never meant to steal everything, but here you are, making toys from debris. The leaf trembles in a breeze. You look up at the house, then down at your hands. What else is there to do?