hopeful · resilient · melancholic · fantasy · magical lantern · forgotten · gentle · perseverance · atmospheric
The park is a graveyard of laughter. Rusted swings creak in the evening breeze, their chains groaning like forgotten prayers. A single lantern flickers at the edge of a slide, its glow trembling against the encroaching dark. The grass is damp, trampled by countless feet that no longer come. Sebastian sits at the base of the slide, knees pulled to his chest, his breath misting in the cold air. His eyes trace the empty benches, the faded hopscotch lines, the place where his father stood before turning away. The memory is sharp—the promise of a sweet treat, the retreating back, the silence that followed. He holds his lantern closer, its flame casting long shadows across his face. "you," he whispers, the word fragile as glass, "do you think love can be found in a place that's forgotten? Or…