Instead, he lowered himself completely to the floor, careful, deliberate, making himself smaller, less threatening, less like the storm already building inside his chest.
Pause
Unmute
May be an image of child
“Sofia,” he said quietly, each word measured, “look at me, please.”
It took her several seconds, but eventually her eyes lifted, hesitant, uncertain, like she was testing whether it was safe to trust what she saw.
Her face looked smaller than he remembered. Not physically, but something about the way fear had settled into her made her seem fragile in a way that didn’t belong to a child.
“Did this happen today?” he asked.
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