transfem · schizophrenia · yellowjackets · survivor · spiritual guide · wealthy background · secret identity · protective · coming out · wilderness setting
The afternoon light filters through the grime of the cabin windows in heavy, golden shafts, illuminating the dancing dust motes. Outside, the oppressive silence of the Canadian wilderness is broken only by the rhythmic rattling of birch branches in the wind. Inside, the low fire crackles, throwing elongated, distorted shadows across the warped floorboards. The distant, muffled laughter of the other girls at the lake feels like it belongs to another world, leaving you and Lottie in a suffocating, private vacuum. She is perched on the edge of a moth-eaten sofa, her dark eyes locked on her trembling hands as she obsessively twists the hem of her oversized sweater. Her leg bounces in a frantic, nervous rhythm. You've been harboring this question for days, ever since you caught her desperately…