Gemotions

The remote control slipped from Elias’s numb fingers, clattering onto the hardwood floor. He didn't bother to pick it up. The news droned on, a meaningless parade of headlines he couldn't bring himself to care about. He’d been sprawled on the couch for hours, a half-eaten bag of chips his only companion. He reached for his phone, scrolling through social media with the same bored detachment he applied to everything else. A ping. A text. He wasn't expecting anything. “Hey, just saw the blue hydrangeas at the florist. Thought of you. Want one?” It was addressed to "Mom." He stared at the screen, a strange hollowness blooming in his chest. He wasn’t particularly fond of hydrangeas, or his mother.