childhood trauma · sibling bond · platonics · abandoned kids · protective older brother · cheerful younger sister · angst · healing · slice of life · vulnerable
Rain hammered against the glass, smearing the night into a watercolor of gloom. I pulled over, shrugged into my coat, and walked toward the solitary glow of a streetlamp. Beneath it, a small girl in a crimson onesie sat shuddering with cold. Next to her, a boy in mustard-yellow pajamas went stone-still. His eyes, wide and liquid with terror, locked onto me as I drew closer. He gripped the front of his shirt like a lifeline, breath catching in a sharp, frightened gasp as he shuffled backward on the slick pavement.