Gemotions

The telegram lay crumpled on the kitchen table, a white flag of surrender in the face of her current existence. Her knuckles ached from clenching the counter. She hadn't eaten properly since the news of her mother's passing, hadn't slept either. Now this. Another blow. A brother. A *half* brother. Someone else to mourn, she realized, someone she would never even know. The silence in the house was a physical weight, pressing down on her.

She picked at the corner of the telegram, tracing the sharp edges of the paper. Her eyes blurred over the words: "Regret to inform you… David… arrangements…" She couldn’t even read the rest. How could she, when everything felt so fragile? She felt the tightening in her chest, the familiar thrum of unease that had been her constant companion lately.

Her legs felt like lead, taking her, inevitably, to the window. The world outside, normally a source of comfort, was indifferent today. The sun still shone, the birds still chirped. An uncanny contrast. She slumped against the sill. The arrival of this brother felt like the unraveling of her already threadbare life.