Gemotions

He hadn't eaten all day. His appetite had deserted him, leaving only a hollow ache in his stomach. The apartment, once a source of comfort, now felt like a cage.

A delivery arrived: a lush arrangement of exotic orchids. No message. He examined them, turning them over and over in his hands. He couldn’t shake the feeling of being watched.

The orchids, symbols of beauty and luxury, felt foreign and out of place in his now-sterile apartment. He stared at them, a knot forming in his throat as the silence of the room seemed to press in on him.