family drama · eldest sibling · protective · domestic tension · alcoholism · caregiver · stressful home · realistic · angst · responsible
Dawn’s weak light pushes through the smudged kitchen window, catching dust suspended in the thick air. It smells of scorched coffee grinds and something faintly sweet gone sour. The kitchen table is a battlefield. Finn, twelve, is trying to reason with Cora, ten, who’s gripping his forearm hard enough to whiten her knuckles, shrieking about the last pancake. Ivy, eight, sits curled on the floor, her face slick with tears, and Owen, only five, is a small, shaking shape under the table. Your father studies his mug, face a blank wall. Your mother, pale and unsteady, has one hand on the doorknob as if to escape. You hover in the doorway, sixteen years old and somehow the most adult person in the room. The noise scrapes against your skull. What do you do, you?