Gemotions

The email arrived with a hollow *thud* in his inbox. Daniel stared at the subject line: “Important Announcement Regarding Your Tenancy.” He knew what it would say. He’d seen the signs. The building was getting a facelift. New landscaping. Fresh paint. That meant the inevitable.

His breath hitched. He wasn’t prepared. He had no savings, no plans, and, frankly, no skills. He'd lived here for almost a decade, content to let the building's management sort out the leaking pipes and the creaking floors. He relied on the predictability of his life: his job, his routine, his apartment.

His palms began to sweat. He closed the laptop, the screen reflecting his anxious face. He felt exposed, vulnerable, like a small boat adrift in a vast ocean. He felt himself shrinking.