Gemotions

The afternoon dragged on, each hour a monumental effort. He felt like he was wading through molasses, the simplest tasks requiring extraordinary amounts of energy. The endless meetings and the constant demands felt crushing. He wanted to disappear.

"Hey, Alex, what do you think of that mountain biking trip?" his coworker, Susan, asked.

Alex looked up and shook his head in response. He couldn’t be bothered to pretend to be happy right now.

"Do you know anything about Camp Meadowbrook?" Susan then asked, smiling. "My kids loved it."

Alex frowned. The name triggered a distant echo in his mind, and he remembered the small lake in the middle of the camp. "Yeah," he said, his voice quiet. He found himself remembering the smell of pine trees.

"That's so cool! I spent every summer there when I was a kid." She began telling him stories, and the weight on Alex's shoulders felt a little lighter.