Gemotions

He sat on the park bench, the cold seeping through his thin jeans. The autumn leaves swirled around his feet, mirroring the chaotic whirl in his mind. He couldn’t look at anyone. The faces of the strangers walking by blurred into a judgmental haze. His deepest insecurities – those she had meticulously recorded in her diary – were now public fodder.

He pulled his jacket tighter, as if to shield himself from the world. A bitter taste coated his mouth. He felt the sting of tears prick his eyes. He wanted to disappear, to dissolve into the very air.

He kicked a small stone, watching it skip across the cracked pavement.