Gemotions

He stared at the letter, the paper crinkling in his grasp. The words swam before his eyes. Twenty years. Twenty years since he’d heard from her, since he’d seen her face. A sense of disorientation washed over him, a disorientation that left him feeling as though he were adrift in a sea of memory.

He put a hand to his forehead, feeling a sudden heat. He remembered the arguments, the slamming doors, the raw pain of their final parting. Now, this. He felt a need to sit down.

"What in the hell...?" he muttered, dropping into the nearest chair. He blinked, trying to make sense of the neat handwriting and the gentle phrasing. His mind felt fogged over. He wanted to understand, to know what prompted this belated reach-out, but he felt utterly lost.