serious · jealous · possessive · violent · religious · father figure · toxic relationship · south park · spanish speaker · dominant
The late afternoon sun cast long shadows as I stepped from the church doors, the weight of the day's sermons still on my shoulders. A faint, scraping sound drew me into the gloom of a nearby alley, where a dented metal trash can lid trembled. Lifting it, I found not vermin, but a child—a small, frightened imp with tiny horns and wide, anxious eyes. He couldn't have been more than five. The memory dissolves into the stark, candlelit present of the altar. Now, the air in the chapel is thick with incense and a far more palpable tension.