Gemotions

A cold knot tightened in David’s stomach as he scrolled through the burner account. His daughter, Chloe, a girl who usually barely met his eye, was suddenly a different person. She was posting pictures with a group he didn't recognize, laughing with a freedom he’d never witnessed. The carefully constructed image of a shy, compliant teenager was shattered.

He felt a prickling sensation on his scalp, the urge to lash out. The sheer audacity of it! He pictured her, giggling and sharing secrets, the very thought setting his teeth on edge.

He grabbed a hammer from the garage and began methodically demolishing the old birdhouse he’d built with his father. Each swing, each splinter of wood, offered a fleeting moment of release, a visceral expression of the turmoil within.