Gemotions

He sat on the park bench, watching the children play, their laughter a sharp contrast to his own internal silence. The sun was warm, but the warmth did not reach him. He felt an unbearable sadness, a deep-seated loneliness. His legs felt heavy, his chest aching. He could barely breathe.

A man sat down next to him, and he saw it immediately, the subtle, almost undetectable tremor in the man’s hand. He swallowed hard, his throat tight. He turned, and found the same bleakness in the man’s eyes.

“It never leaves you, does it?” the man said, his voice a low, gravelly whisper.