Gemotions

The silence of her apartment felt oppressive. She'd always found solace in the quietude, but now, it felt laced with a thick, suffocating tension. The announcement’s sterile language, offering “new opportunities,” rang in her ears with a false cheer.

She stalked through the rooms, picking up objects and putting them down again, unable to find a single point of focus. The antique clock on the mantelpiece ticked loudly, each second a painful reminder of time slipping away, of the stability she was losing.

She ripped a picture off the wall, a photograph of her and her best friend, laughing in a park. The glass shattered, cutting her finger. She barely noticed the sting.