Gemotions

The world felt flat, monochrome. The days bled into one another, marked only by the shifting light through the dust-covered windows. A small, battered envelope, postmarked from a distant state, lay on the kitchen table. It was from his former mentor, a man he'd idolized, the man who’d publicly humiliated him during a professional conference.

He sat for hours staring at the envelope, the memories flooding back, each one a fresh assault. He felt a deep ache in his gut, a residue of the shame that had followed him for years. The injustice of it. The betrayal.

He finally opened the letter. The apology was lengthy and detailed, but he felt nothing. He felt empty. He crumpled the letter and threw it into the trash, the gesture empty and meaningless. He just stood there, his shoulders slumped, lost in the vast, echoing silence of his life.