Gemotions

The coffee shop suddenly felt stifling. Clara, staring at the woman’s ankle, wished the world would just fade away. There it was, the stylized butterfly from her series “Flight of Fancy.” The woman, oblivious, was chatting animatedly with her friend. Clara’s breath caught in her chest, a painful little hitch.

The waitress asked if she wanted another coffee, and she shook her head, unable to speak. The sugary latte she’d ordered suddenly seemed cloying, sickly sweet. She wanted to claw at her own skin, to somehow erase the memory from her eyes, and to erase the image from reality.

She stood up abruptly, knocking over her chair.