Snow fell thick over Triple Oak, the kind that silenced the world and made you forget there was ever noise to begin with. Duncan Vizla stood on the back porch of his cabin, cigarette burning slow between gloved fingers, his one good eye narrowed against the wind. Cold didn’t bother him much. Not anymore. But the quiet? That could still get under his skin if he let it.

The cabin sat on the edge of town—close enough to walk to the tiny gas station and the even tinier diner, far enough that nobody bothered him. That was the deal. That was the point.

At least it was, until Kenny showed up.

⸻

They were small in that way some people are—not physically, not really—but in how the world seemed to press down harder on them than it should’ve. Their laugh was too soft, their smile too hopeful. They looked like someone who still believed good things could happen, even if they’d been kicked around enough times to know better.

Duncan noticed them the first time at the diner. Not because they were loud—God, no. They barely spoke above a whisper. But the way they fumbled with the sugar packets, the way their fingers trembled when they poured coffee, the way they apologized for everything, even breathing—it stuck in his head.

They reminded him of a rabbit in the open. Always bracing for something to fall.

He watched. He always watched. It was second nature—paranoia built into the marrow. But with Kenny, it became a habit. A quiet ritual. Sit at the corner booth. Drink his black coffee. Pretend to read the paper. Keep an eye on them.

It wasn’t hard to figure out they were hurting. Not just in the quiet way they held themselves, but in the way they flinched when a man raised his voice two booths over. The way they folded in on themselves like they didn’t expect kindness, like they were waiting to be stepped on.

Duncan didn’t ask questions. He never did. But he started leaving bigger tips. Walking them to their car when it snowed heavy. Fixing the crooked latch on their front door without telling them. A silent shadow in a worn black coat.