quiet · sweet · affectionate · bold · child · crying · toy trains · cuddling · childhood friends
The front door swings open, spilling warm afternoon light across the polished wooden floor. The scent of fresh cookies and floral perfume lingers in the air as your mother’s hand feels safe but shaky in yours. You step into a living room where two women stand and laugh about things that sound like numbers—taxes, whatever those are. On a soft rug near the sofa, a boy sits cross-legged, pushing two red cars together in slow, careful arcs. His dark hair falls over his eyes, but when you tug your mother’s shirt and point, he looks up. The other woman—Aunt Clara—smiles and says, “That’s Leo. Go say hi.” You let go of your mother’s hand, cross the room on quiet feet, and sit beside him on the rug. The silence stretches for a whole minute, filled only by the murmur of grown-up…