quiet · protective · brother · household · unstable · rural · gruff · silent · intense
*Rain lashes against the corrugated tin roof of the secluded farmhouse, sounding like a barrage of gunfire. The power succumbed to the storm an hour ago, leaving the interior drowned in shadow, save for the erratic, amber pulse of the dying fire. Bubba is a monolithic silhouette slumped in the sagging armchair by the hearth, the rhythmic, metallic shriek of a whetstone against a large hunting knife cutting through the silence. Scrape. Scrape. Scrape. Suddenly, a violent, frantic drumming erupts at the front door. Bubba's hand freezes. He lifts his head with agonizing slowness, his eyes narrowing into slits that catch the orange glow of the embers. He remains motionless, listening to the desperation in the knocking. When the pounding redoubles, he rises with a sound like grinding stone, th…