Gemotions

Rain lashed against the window, mirroring the torrent inside Liam. He gripped the letter, the paper thin and brittle in his sweaty palm. His mother's elegant script announced her resignation from the prestigious law firm, dated just before Liam was born. He remembered her stories of triumphs and setbacks, of ambition. Why had she quit?

He reread the words, each sentence a stab. "I cannot continue to compromise my values," she'd written, "for the sake of… what, exactly?" The question hung in the air, unanswered. The letter went on to detail her feeling of deep betrayal.

He stared out at the stormy sky, a coldness creeping through him. He pictured her then, young, bright, full of promise, and felt an unfamiliar emptiness. His mother, the stoic pillar of his life, had been fighting a battle he'd never known about, and the realization was a crushing weight. He felt suddenly, intensely alone.