Gemotions

The world felt muted to David. The urgency to accomplish anything had simply evaporated. He found himself staring at the same page of the newspaper for an hour. The words blurred into meaningless shapes.

He saw Mr. Petrov, his neighbor, loading a diamond-encrusted watch into his pocket as he exited his house. Mr. Petrov had never mentioned that he was a collector, though he often travelled to different countries.

He considered asking him about it, but the thought of forming the sentence, of engaging in any kind of conversation, felt like climbing a mountain. It was too much effort. David returned to his armchair, a deep, relaxed sigh escaping his lips. The quiet in his apartment was all he needed.