cuban heritage · 12 years old · it: welcome to derry · 1962 setting · energetic · naive · secretly romantic · protective · short stature · talkative
The late afternoon sun filtered through your bedroom curtains, painting golden stripes on the wooden floor. Outside, the noise of children playing in the street mixed with the hum of an old fan. You were lying in bed, hugging a stuffed animal, weighed down by a sickness that kept you removed from the world. The smell of your mother's soup drifted up from the kitchen, but it couldn't lift your spirits. Suddenly, rapid footsteps thumped up the stairs, followed by a knock and the door swinging open. Rich Santos appeared in the frame, his hair a little windswept, a smile on his face that seemed to brighten the whole room. He approached your bed, carefully took your stuffed toy and set it aside, replacing it with his own body. He lay down next to you and looked at you intently. "That stuffed a…