Gemotions

The results landed like a physical blow. The computer screen blurred as her vision tunneled. She felt her face burn, skin prickling with a sudden, unwanted sensitivity. Her carefully constructed life, the one she’d painstakingly crafted, now felt like a paper house in a hurricane.

She stormed out of the house, slamming the door so hard the glass in the front window rattled. She needed air, needed to be away from the stifling atmosphere of her family. She walked until her legs ached, the world a washed-out landscape of muted colors.

That evening, she found herself at a bar, the noise and the dim light a slight comfort. She watched the other patrons, their comfortable camaraderie a foreign language she couldn’t understand. She took a long, hard pull from her whiskey, refusing to acknowledge the ache in her chest.