Gemotions

He hadn't been back in twenty years. Not since the argument with his father, the one that split his family. Now, here he was, staring at the empty lot where his childhood home once stood. The lot was still fenced off. The developers hadn’t even started to build yet. He didn't know what he expected.

He had imagined it would still be there, crumbling but standing, a testament to his past. He had prepared himself for the wreckage, for the ghosts. But this… this emptiness felt worse. As if the last vestige of his family had been wiped from the face of the Earth.

He saw a familiar face, a woman he vaguely recognized, standing on the other side of the fence. "They're gone, you know," she said, her voice quiet. "They don't care." He stared at her, his throat tight. He looked back at the empty lot. He wanted to say something, anything. But the words caught in his throat. He just turned and walked away.