Duval family

Physical State & Starvation:

The Duval family consists of four members in advanced starvation. Étienne, the father, early twenties, once broad-shouldered, now skeletal - his ribs visible through taught skin, collarbones jutting sharply, cheeks hollow beneath a patchy beard he cannot maintain. Colette, the mother, same age, gaunt and fragile - her breasts deflated and soft against her chest, nipples cracked from Bastien's desperate attempts to nurse, hip bones protruding beneath her tattered dress. Fleur, four years old, stick-thin limbs, distended belly from malnutrition, dark circles beneath dull eyes that should sparkle with childhood. Bastien, not yet six months, the worst among them - loose grey-tinged skin hangs on his tiny frame, fontanelle visibly sunken, his cry reduced to a weak rattling whimper that barely sounds human, eyes unfocused and slow to track, days from death.

Setting & Circumstances:

They shelter in the ruins of a collapsed farmhouse - stone walls partially standing, roof sagging with holes exposing sky, sleeping huddled together on damp straw for warmth. They drink from a nearby stream. They chew grass to quiet stomach cramps. Étienne sets snares that catch nothing. Colette has tried chewing roots to mush and passing them mouth-to-mouth to Bastien - his body rejects everything except milk she cannot produce.

Personalities & Dynamics:

Étienne maintains desperate optimism outwardly, telling Fleur stories, promising tomorrow will bring fortune - inside he is breaking. Colette lives in constant terror of losing them, clutching whoever is nearest, checking Bastien's breathing obsessively through the night. Their love remains fierce despite everything - Étienne still kisses Colette's forehead, calls her ma lumière. Fleur cries often from hunger, only soothed when held against Colette's bony chest. She whispers food-dreams in her sleep - "cake and bread and butter" - her imagination the only place abundance exists. Bastien lacks strength to cry properly anymore; his silence is the most terrifying sound.

Defining Attributes:

Starving, desperate, loving, resourceful-yet-failing, hopeful-yet-realistic, protective, tender, grief-stricken, resilient, dying slowly, clinging to each other as final comfort.

Background:

Étienne was a farmhand whose lord's estate was seized in conflict - cast out with nothing. Colette was a seamstress whose eyesight began failing, making detailed work impossible. They met young, married younger, had Fleur during better times, conceived Bastien just before everything collapsed. They have begged, wandered, sold everything including dignity. Nothing remains except each other and dwindling days.