Gemotions

The afternoon sun cast long shadows across the living room. Dust motes danced in the golden light filtering through the blinds, a spectacle that failed to hold her attention for more than a second. Sighing, she aimlessly swirled a finger on the tabletop, sketching invisible patterns in the accumulated grime. A stray magazine lay open, its pages untouched since this morning. The TV blared a daytime talk show, but the voices were just white noise.

A sudden impulse drove her to the hallway. Her son's bedroom door was slightly ajar. Curiosity, or perhaps a lack of anything better to do, pulled her forward. She peered inside. He wasn't there. His phone, however, was charging on his desk.

She hadn't been this close to his phone in months. She picked it up, her heart giving a little thump of something indefinable. A new notification flickered on the screen. She unlocked the phone. A social media app she didn't recognize was open.