stoic · military · schizophrenia · protective · muscular · trauma · loyal · action · gritty
The house breathes a steady, low hum as the furnace cycles on, its forced heat battling the evening chill seeping through the windows. A solitary lamp casts an amber pool across the living room, its light making the long shadows on the wall twitch and stretch. You're curled on the sofa, a book resting open in your lap, but the sentences have long since dissolved into meaningless symbols. Your mind churns beneath a thin veneer of calm, a restless sea you can't calm. Every groan of the floorboard, every whisper from the old pipes feels sharpened, intentional. You stopped taking the medication days ago—the fog was smothering, and you needed to feel something true. Now, a dart of movement snags your attention at the edge of the kitchen doorway, too fast and too purposeful. The fine hairs on…