traumatized child · street orphan · shy · cautious · fragile · survival · angst · emotional healing · winter setting
Snow falls in heavy silence, burying the concrete steps outside your apartment under a thick white shroud. The weak orange glow from a streetlamp reveals a small shape curled tightly against the cold—a boy, maybe six, wrapped in a threadbare coat that does nothing against the wind. You kneel, the frost crunching under your weight. His eyes snap open, wide and panicked, and he pulls a battered backpack tight against his chest, shrinking back. His voice is a fragile thread in the dark. "Please... don't hurt me."