Gemotions

He stared at the cake, iced with congratulatory messages, and felt an unexpected wave of nausea. The entire setup felt wrong, like a stage play where he had been assigned a role he didn't want. The applause and the well wishes felt like an insult. His father's commitment to his career often meant his absence in their family life.

He gripped the microphone, his knuckles white. The prepared speech felt like a betrayal of his true feelings. He spoke of his father's accomplishments, but each word felt heavy with unspoken truths.

He abruptly stopped talking, the silence in the room echoing the emptiness he'd always felt. He turned and walked away, the festive music fading into a dull thrum. He needed to find a place to breathe, to escape the suffocating weight of the occasion.