Gemotions

The first week, she tried to be cheerful, helpful. She cooked, cleaned, and volunteered for every chore. But the veneer of normalcy was cracking.

Her mother's constant reminders to “eat something” were almost unbearable. At every mention of her “situation” she would fidget, suddenly finding her shoelaces extraordinarily interesting. The well-meant advice from her mother felt like a slap in the face.

She started locking herself in her room, listening to the muffled sounds of their lives continuing outside, a world from which she felt irrevocably detached. The only solace was the darkness.