Gemotions

The house seemed unusually quiet. Carol stared at the screen, her jaw clenched tight. Her daughter, Olivia, had always been so easy to manage. Now, she was some rebel, spouting opinions about topics she couldn’t possibly understand. Carol felt a surge of pure, unadulterated contempt.

The whole thing seemed so theatrical, so manufactured. Carol slammed the laptop shut, the sound a sharp crack in the silence. She felt a sudden urge to clean, to scrub something until it was spotless. The feeling was a burning sensation in her chest, a need to wash away the ugliness.