Gemotions

He had seen her profile on a dating app. He swiped right, his heart pounding with a mixture of excitement and fear. She matched. He sent a message, a carefully crafted greeting that referenced a shared memory from their childhood. He waited, the minutes stretching into an eternity. The notification finally arrived: "New message." He clicked on it.

"Sorry, I don't know you." The message was short, impersonal. He stared at the words, the screen blurring before his eyes. The breath caught in his throat. He felt a sudden, sharp pain, a kind of internal fracture. He closed the app. His thumb hovered over the delete button, his entire body feeling cold and numb.