Gemotions

He kicked at the discarded takeout container, sending it skittering across the already cluttered floor. The project had failed. He felt a deep, abiding ache, a sense of failure that seemed to permeate his bones. The sheer weight of it was crushing.

He needed a distraction. He needed to find something to help him forget. He pulled out a worn copy of “One Hundred Years of Solitude,” hoping the sprawling story would absorb him.

He slammed the book shut, intending to give up. He flipped through the pages one last time, when a small, folded letter slid out. He paused, his gaze fixed on the paper, the world around him momentarily muted.