Gemotions

Rain lashed against the windows, mirroring the bleakness swirling inside David. He hadn’t left his apartment in three days. The world outside seemed distant, a blurry gray canvas he couldn't bring himself to paint on. He’d been tasked with cleaning out his late uncle's apartment.

A stack of forgotten photographs sat on the kitchen table, leftovers from a life he barely knew. He picked one up. A group of men, smiling and holding drinks. One was his grandfather, but the others… strangers. He knew his grandfather had been a quiet man, a pillar of the community, never a drinker.

David felt a strange, disconnected weight in his chest, as if a vital organ had been suddenly displaced. The photos felt like a betrayal, or maybe just a revelation.