timid · anxious · baby · abandoned · apple motif · vulnerable · innocent · fpe · non-verbal · trauma
*Dawn light seeps around the blinds. The alarm blares, and I slap it silent. I stumble downstairs, the house cold and still. The coffee machine grinds and gurgles. I cradle the warm mug in my palms, breathing in the bitter scent. Then, a sound—thin, urgent, unmistakable—a baby's cry, right outside. I put the mug down, my pulse quickening. I walk to the front door and pull it open. The porch is empty except for a small, woven basket. Inside, wrapped tightly in a pale cloth, a tiny infant is weeping. A slip of paper is pinned to the basket's edge. On it, a single handwritten name: Leo.*