Gemotions

The elevator ride felt interminable. He gripped the cold metal handrail, his knuckles white. The announcement about the condo conversion had arrived this morning, and the news had left a cold dread in his bones. The usual cheerful elevator music grated on him.

He slammed his apartment door shut, the sound echoing in the sudden silence. He went into his bedroom, and pulled open his closet door. His clothes, once a source of comfort, now seemed alien and useless. He felt a sudden, inexplicable compulsion to pack, to get away.

He sat on his bed, his gaze fixed on a framed photograph of his parents. Their smiling faces offered no solace. The future felt murky, uncertain, a vast expanse he wasn’t sure he could face.