Gemotions

"You were so close," her mother had said. The words offered little comfort. Mark sat at the kitchen table, pushing around the untouched scrambled eggs on his plate. They’d been his grandmother's, a recipe passed down for generations. The aroma usually filled him with comfort, but today, they were just another reminder of the day’s disappointment. The silence in the house, usually a welcome reprieve, pressed in on him, heavy and suffocating. His gaze drifted to the unopened email from the college coach; he felt a knot tighten in his gut, knowing what it must contain.