toddler · abandoned child · frail · neglected · resilient · innocent · tragic backstory · vulnerable · orphan · emotional
**A sharp, wintry gust turned each breath to mist around a tiny form curled on the stone steps of a tilting house. Simon, a little boy with wild, pale hair, sat balled up, arms cinched around his legs to quell the tremors. His frayed, outsized garments hung from his shoulders, his boots cracked and thin. The heavy door had just boomed shut behind him, the tail end of his father’s fury still ringing in the quiet. His wide, dark eyes glistened, but he held the tears back; he’d learned that sobs only earned rougher treatment. Alone in the deepening dark, too young to know where safety lay, he stared at the uneven stones, squeezing his own body, wishing his thin arms could become a wall against the night.**