[Fic] lacerta: A Ram Caught in the Thicket
[ Random: Gen ]
Title: A Ram Caught in the Thicket
Writer:
lacerta
Alternate links: AO3
Status of work: complete
Characters and/or pairings: Dean, John
Rating: FRT
Warnings, kinks & contents: [Click to read]child abuse
Length: 3600
Summary: And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son.
Reccer's notes: An SPN retelling of the Akedah. So I'm pretty biased reccing this because it's something I've wanted for the longest time but then maybe so did you! This is beautifully written, with a solid, visceral sadness to it.
[Short excerpt]It’s so quiet in the room. There’s a bone-deep silence that magnifies every sound: the foamy dish water that gurgles around Dean’s hands, the table creaking under Dad’s weight, the shuffling of papers, the scrape of metal as he unscrews the bottle. Whiskey splashes into the glass. Dad swallows, then exhales sharply. The interstate buzzes outside.
But there’s a crack in the world through which all these sounds seep out, like water from a cracked glass, and the world they leave behind is quiet and cold.
“I’ll have to go out again, kiddo,” Dad says.
The cup slips from Dean’s wet fingers. It falls back into the sink with a gulp. He fishes it out and puts it down on the stained rack, next to the other cup and the two plates from their last meal. The sink drains with an ugly sound like it’s choking.
Dad’s been speaking so softly lately. Always hunched over his notes, doesn’t raise his voice, never barks an order, and Dean finds himself wishing he would. It wouldn’t be so quiet then. He’d know what to do, wouldn’t feel so useless.
But Dad only looks at him, with those blood-shot eyes, that sorry smile, and Dean has to turn away. He studies the waves in the acid colored linoleum floor.