Gemotions

He watched from his car, the engine idling, the air conditioning struggling against the summer heat. The house, his childhood home, was being prepped for the wrecking ball. Sunlight glinted off the windows, reflecting the ghosts of laughter and summer afternoons. He hadn't been back in years, not since his parents had passed. Now, it was being torn down for a soulless strip mall.

He should be relieved, right? Free of the memories, the burden. But a feeling settled over him, something unpleasant. He drummed his fingers on the steering wheel, remembering the way his sister always got everything she wanted, now having the money to keep the home, making it seem like she was the good daughter. He hadn't cared, he told himself, but the clenched jaw, the tight chest, told a different story.

He was filled with such a peculiar feeling.