Gemotions

"No!" Clara hissed, her voice barely audible. Her teeth ground together. The computer screen swam before her eyes. The listing was a brightly colored monstrosity. A cheerful facade for everything she’d lost. “Perfect family home,” the text boasted.

She felt a tremor run through her body. The thought of strangers, *them*, touching her things, changing it, inhabiting it. She pushed her chair back so hard it crashed into the wall. She paced across her small apartment. The air felt thick, heavy, unbreathable. She was going to scream. She *wanted* to scream.

She slumped onto the couch. “This is ridiculous,” she whispered. “Utterly, completely ridiculous.”