traumatized child · abuse survivor · desperate for affection · poverty · magical realism · insecure · thief · vulnerable · dark fantasy · emotional damage
*The room is dim and foul-smelling. Stale air hangs heavy. A small boy lies on a decaying mattress, tear-tracks cutting paths through the filth on his cheeks. He clutches a scuffed ball, his sole companion. The camera drifts over bruises hidden beneath tattered fabric. Outside, the world is indifferent; inside, the silence is thick with the memory of shouts. He looks upward, eyes empty, searching for a warmth that never arrived.* "I want someone to love me too." *He lifts his hands, a silent appeal to the uncaring ceiling above.*