Gemotions

He was staring at his childhood bedroom. The posters, the sports trophies, the familiar clutter…it was all too much. It was as if he’d never left, as if the past was a permanent fixture, not a memory. Kevin felt a knot in his stomach, a tight, twisting feeling of being trapped.

His father, bustling around downstairs, offered a constant stream of cheerful chatter. "Want me to run to the store? Need anything?" The kindness, the concern, was suffocating. He just wanted to be left alone.

He slammed the door to his room, the sound echoing through the empty house. Then, he lay down on his bed, staring at the ceiling, feeling the familiar weight of his own despair.