Gemotions

The announcement was a cold splash of reality. Maria felt the familiar ache behind her eyes, the prelude to a migraine. The past few months she had been struggling to keep up with the expenses of her elderly parents. She was the sole caregiver.

She thought of them, vulnerable, dependent. The thought of them being left without her, she couldn’t. A raw feeling surged through her, a desperate need to protect.

Her hands moved without conscious thought, opening multiple job search websites. Her fingers tapped furiously on the keyboard, her mind racing, searching for options, a lifeline.