Gemotions

The chipped mug warmed Amelia's hands, but the chill in the apartment persisted. Empty takeaway containers littered the coffee table, remnants of a Friday night spent… well, she couldn't quite remember what she'd done. Just the usual, probably. Scrolling. Staring. Sighing. A notification pinged; a picture of Maya and Liam laughing at a brewery. She scrolled past it quickly, the movement too abrupt. She remembered the day she and Maya had hiked up Mount Beacon. Supposedly.

"Remember that rogue squirrel?" Maya's message buzzed through, a week later. "He totally stole your granola bar!"

Amelia stared at the message for a long time. She did remember the hike. The view, the sweat, the ache in her legs. But the squirrel? The granola bar? A blank space. Had she even *had* a granola bar? She felt a pang in her chest, a tightening that made it hard to breathe. "No, I don't." she typed back, and felt an unfamiliar emptiness.