Gemotions

Liam stared at the notice board, the paper crumpled in his fist. The announcement about the university’s impending closure was a bright, cruel splash of red among the usual flyers for club meetings and student events. He felt a strange tingling in his fingertips, a prelude to… something. He didn’t know what. He just knew he wanted to run.

He jammed his hands in his pockets, his knuckles bumping against the cold metal of his keys. He took a deep breath, the air feeling thin, unsatisfying. It felt like he’d forgotten how to breathe properly. He wandered the familiar hallways, now echoing with a strange, hollow silence.

He saw Maya, a classmate from his philosophy seminar, leaning against a wall, her face pale. “Did you…?” she began, then trailed off, her voice barely a whisper. He nodded, unable to speak. They stood there, side-by-side, in the swirling confusion of the suddenly collapsing world they had known.