Gemotions

He stared out the window, watching the rain streak down the glass. The world felt muffled, as if encased in cotton. He hadn’t felt any strong emotions in years, just a persistent state of… neutral. He performed his routines, but his heart, it seemed, was permanently at rest.

A letter arrived. He didn't recognize the handwriting at first. He opened it, and a name that he once knew intimately jumped out at him. The letter was an apology for a profound slight, so many years after the event.

He read the letter, then reread it. He felt nothing. Not anger, not relief, not anything. He crumpled the paper, dropping it into the trash. He walked back to the window, watching the rain intensify, feeling no connection to anything.