Gemotions

The silence in the cramped apartment was deafening. The email was open on the laptop, the words repeated in her head. She slumped on the sofa, the cushions feeling suddenly hard and unforgiving. Her entire body seemed to have tightened.

The details of the apartment, the peeling paint, the mismatched furniture, the familiar clutter, all seemed amplified, somehow starker. The world has changed.

Her eyes pricked, and tears blurred her vision. She felt frozen, unable to move, unable to speak, the weight of the rejection pressing down on her, an invisible burden.