Gemotions

The silence that followed the announcement was even more intense than the preceding conversation. Her brother, Thomas, had just finished explaining his embrace of Rastafarianism, his voice calm and deliberate. The room felt suddenly cramped, the walls closing in. She found herself picking at a loose thread on her sweater. She longed to stand up, to stretch, to just *move*. She forced a smile, but it felt brittle, unnatural. She shifted and looked again at the clock, watching the seconds bleed away.