Gemotions

The request from *Brenda "The Bruiser" Bradley* had him completely frozen. It was as if time had warped back to the playground, the smell of asphalt, the shouts, the fear. He sat there, his mouth slightly agape, staring at the screen.

He remembered her towering over him, her words like tiny, sharp stones. His throat tightened. The image of her face, stern and unforgiving, burned into his memory.

He wanted to run, to escape the digital echo of the past. He forced himself to take a deep breath, and slowly, deliberately, closed the laptop. The weight of it settled in his chest.