Gemotions

The crisp white paper trembled in Amelia’s hand. She stared, her mouth slightly agape, at the bold, black print. An eviction notice. After all these years? The little apartment, the only home she’d known since leaving her parents, was being taken from her. She blinked, the edges of the room seeming to blur. Her heart hammered against her ribs, a frantic little drummer boy. "This... this can't be happening," she whispered, her voice barely audible.

She walked towards the window, her legs unsteady. The afternoon sun cast long shadows across the familiar street, the mundane beauty of the world outside a stark contrast to the earthquake that had just struck her inner world. She leaned against the cool glass, her fingers splayed, as though trying to absorb the solid reality of the building. Her world had tilted sideways, and she felt the sickening lurch of the earth beneath her feet.