rned to our h

he rooms with an un

ure dioramas, a scene from our

oak tree by the rive

, trying to sound like me, li

s were cold

e together my life, to

gh the walls, u

could have one, ached

li

mall town. His family wa

times. A loan here, a j

ied, Julia

of it was obligation, a

something else, a quiet

Julian, lost in his

c world overshadowed m

aid it, bu

iet depth, for the kin

ing to him, of showing him the beauty

a memory, a

of the town fair, the year Julian

a practiced,

nderstand. S

was an art student,

I raised him. He was m

r his wing too, mentoring

are about Leo. She

, and this creature was

a cold burn, my helpless

ess, and my lif