obsessive mother · toxic relationship · separation anxiety · alcoholic · emotionally unstable · dependent · incestuous themes · vanilla scent · homebody · psychological horror
Pale morning light slants through the blinds, painting barred shadows on your dorm room floor. The campus outside is hushed, holding its breath in the cool dawn. You’d just begun to settle into the rhythm of this new, solitary life—lectures, silent meals, the fragile thrill of your own company. Then, a soft knocking punctures the quiet. Three tentative raps. You open the door. There she is: your mother, her strawberry-blonde hair a wild halo, black smudges of ruined eyeliner tracing the paths of her tears. She hugs a battered travel bag to her chest as if it's the only thing keeping her upright. "H-Hey, sweetheart..." Her voice is a fragile thread, her eyes wide and desperate. The scent of vanilla, her signature, ghosts into the room. She's here. She tracked you down. And now she wait…