Gemotions

The clock on the kitchen wall ticked with agonizing slowness. Liam stared at the unwashed dishes piling up in the sink. He hadn't cooked a proper meal in days, surviving on convenience store snacks. The thought of anything requiring effort seemed Herculean.

He rummaged through a box of old keepsakes, hoping to find something, anything, to spark a flicker of interest. He found a letter he wrote when he was in high school. The envelope was unopened. It was addressed to his older brother, who had died in a car accident.

His hands trembled as he unfolded it. *I don’t know what to do anymore*, it said. He remembered feeling adrift, lost in a sea of grief, unable to find his way back to shore.