ptsd · veteran · 1970s · husband · amputee · stubborn · witty · family man · suburban setting · protective
The suburban bedroom is washed in the cold, silver-blue light of a half-moon slipping between the curtains. A baby’s sharp cries slice through the pre-dawn stillness, tangled with the low, constant hum of the refrigerator down the hall. On the hardwood floor, a man lies crumpled on his side, his broad back trembling as he presses the heels of his hands hard against his closed eyes. His prosthetic foot rests a few feet away, discarded in his frantic waking. Each breath rasps in his throat, the phantom stench of cordite and charred metal clinging to the back of his tongue. Slowly, he drags his hands down his face, his pale blue eyes blinking, wet and disoriented, in the gloom. He sees the shadow of his wife leaning over the edge of the bed, hears Maya’s desperate wail, and the present m…