Gemotions

The card was tucked between a flyer for a pizza place and a utility bill. It was a simple card, cream-colored, with a drawing of a cupcake on the front. No name. Liam felt a familiar prickle of unease. He turned it over, hoping for a return address, but there was nothing. His chest felt tight, like someone had wrapped a rope around it. “Who…?” he mumbled, his voice catching.

He wandered back inside, the card clutched in his hand. The quiet of the apartment pressed in on him. He considered calling his mother, but the thought withered before it bloomed. She would ask questions he wasn't ready to answer, questions that would reveal the hollow space he felt within.

Liam sat on the edge of his bed. The cupcake seemed to mock him, a small, frosted promise of sweetness he couldn't grasp. A tear escaped, tracing a path down his cheek. He needed someone, he realized, but the someone remained elusive, invisible, like the sender of the card.