Gemotions

He woke up with a start, heart pounding, the news still fresh and raw in his mind. The apartment was filled with the morning light. The quiet and stillness made the world seem as if it were holding its breath. He lay there, his mind racing.

He knew he needed to reach out. He needed a lifeline, a glimmer of hope, anything to stop the panic from consuming him. He thought of his friends. He couldn't bring himself to talk to them.

He sat up, the sheets twisting around his legs. The future, once so clear, now looked like a vast, uncharted wilderness. He felt a chilling sense of isolation, a bone-deep conviction that he was utterly, irrevocably, lost.