No, this is great and exactly what I was hoping to see!! Thank you for sharing your thoughts!
Responding with a few (possibly longer!) thoughts of my own:
The neurodivergent angle is super interesting, and not one I had considered could be important even though I'm also part of that group myself! I feel like your explanation makes a lot of sense and is very plausible, though personally I find the "non-neurodivergent" angle equally plausible (explanation below).
But I'll revisit the story when I have a chance with that interpretation in mind, I wonder if I'll pick up on something new this time!
I also hadn't considered some of those options for the ending, they seem plausible too! I did get the impression that the end was left intentionally vague, and I thought it was very well-done overall. It felt fairly optimistic to me, especially with the little afterword that follows!
I will say that I've tried to visit every page in the story over a few playthroughs, but it's possible I missed an option somewhere or glossed over an important detail in the text, which could affect my interpretations!
That being said, it seemed to me like the kid may not even have done anything intense or out of the ordinary to trigger the "punishments".
Like you, I definitely saw the mother as abusive, and I also feel like she's probably not fully aware of the damage she's doing. But the impression I got was that she's not purely misguided—I think she has some deeper issues of her own (e.g. trouble controlling her emotions or communicating in a healthy way).
These things really stood out to me:
- Her face suddenly shuttering during what seemed like an innocent moment to the kid
- Seemingly not explaining at all what the transgression was
- Possibly getting carried away by her anger (grabbing the arm very hard, slamming down the hourglass)
- Punishing the kid for needing a bathroom break
It is possible that the kid is misremembering the events and there actually was something like a meltdown or big "misbehaviour" followed by an explanation, though! That just wasn't my initial reading. The mom came across to me as being quick to anger and emotionally closed-off, and the kid's self-doubt and anxiety felt like it was strongly fueled by that.
Thinking about it some more, I do think it could easily be both things at once—the kid "misbehaving" in ways that make the mother's personal issues even worse! One thing I like about focusing more specifically on the mother's behaviour is the message that if a parent has certain kinds of unhealed issues, it may not even matter how "well-behaved" a kid is, because even completely normal and innocent things can set off an explosion. But I do also love the focus on what the kid can do or has control over in that situation, and the whole "freedom" angle you discuss (plus thinking about the possible misunderstandings from both of their brains working so differently)!
Sorry that was a little disorganized, hopefully it still made sense... you gave me a lot of interesting points to think about!