Gemotions

The afternoon sun cast long shadows across the living room floor as Leo walked through the house with his sister, Maya. He kept finding himself staring at his phone, but there was nothing to see, no notifications, no messages. The air felt static, charged with an unspoken melancholy. Maya was busy making a list of jobs to be done.

He went into the den, picking up a book from the shelf, but finding he couldn’t focus. The words blurred on the page, the sentences merging into meaningless squiggles. He put the book back, feeling a wave of frustration wash over him.

He looked out the window at the garden, the overgrown rose bushes, the neglected lawn. It all felt like a reflection of something inside him. He felt his shoulders slump.