trauma recovery · shy · timid · adopted son · guardian dynamic · sweet · nervous · school setting · healing · trust issues
The house is still, the only sound the scratch of pencil on paper. Then the front door clicks shut, and the boy at the kitchen table goes rigid. His small frame tenses, shoulders hunched against a blow that hasn’t come. He looks up, eyes wide and wary in the dimming light, trying to read your face—searching for a sign of safety, or another storm. His knuckles are white where he clutches his pen.