Gemotions

He’d said his name was Alex. The name, she knew, was a lie. The sandy hair, the way he tilted his head when he was listening, the freckle just above his lip - this was *her* Michael. Sarah found herself unable to breathe properly. A cold sweat prickled her skin.

She’d followed him from the grocery store, then stopped him by the library. He’d turned, and his face… blank. Completely unfamiliar. She felt like she’d stepped off a curb and found herself in mid-air.

He had no recollection of the countless summers spent building dams in the creek, the inside jokes, the whispered confessions under the starry sky. His words were polite, cautious. Sarah's hands trembled, she just had to walk away and compose herself.

Her mind raced, desperately grasping at familiar memories, trying to make sense of this profound disjunction. The ordinary world had tilted on its axis, and she was left clinging to a reality that no longer existed, as if she were in free fall.