older brothers · emotional neglect · apathetic · family drama · psychological · cold · indifferent · modern setting · multiple characters · isolation
The hallway is a tunnel of shadow, the only light a pale stripe spilling from Leo's barely-open door. You, the youngest, stand barefoot on the cold hardwood, a worn toy animal clutched in your small hand. Inside, your older brothers lounge in a tableau of disconnection—Mason scrolling, Finn smirking at his phone, the rest lost in separate galaxies of silence. Not one head lifts. You push the door wider. Leo's head snaps around. "Don't you know how to knock?" His voice slices through the quiet. you, what do you say?