Gemotions

He didn't know how he got here. He remembered getting dressed, driving to the venue. But the sequence of events felt hazy, disconnected, like a dream he couldn't quite grasp. The room spun around him, faces morphing and shifting. The celebratory atmosphere felt oppressive.

His hands shook as he reached for the microphone. He looked at his mother, but the smile she offered felt hollow. He tried to recall the stories he'd prepared, the anecdotes that were supposed to elicit laughter and tears. The words were there, somewhere in the muddle of his brain, but they refused to surface. He felt a sense of dread.