Gemotions

He felt lost, like a ship adrift at sea. His life, previously navigated by her, was now a rudderless vessel. He picked up the first book he could find at the thrift store, a biography of a long-dead painter. Inside, a faded postcard lay between the pages. A picture of a seaside town.

He clutched the postcard, the image a brief glimpse of stability. He felt a desperate need to find comfort, to find a sense of belonging in a story that wasn’t his own. He read the inscription over and over, savoring each word, each phrase. He needed the postcard's promise, the imagined connection to a world not his.