Gemotions

The fluorescent lights of the hallway cast long, skeletal shadows as Daniel stared at the official document. His stomach twisted into a cold knot. It wasn’t the notice itself; it was the prospect of moving again. The packing, the sorting, the inevitable loneliness that followed. He’d packed and unpacked so many times now that it had become a ritualistic dance.

He sat on the floor, the eviction notice discarded beside him. His back against the door, his gaze drifted to the framed photograph on the wall – a picture of him with his old work colleagues. Faces he rarely saw now, smiles that felt as though they belonged to another life. He reached out to touch the glass and sighed.

He felt the familiar ache in his chest, a hollow space that echoed with the silence of his apartment. He wondered how people managed to have so many meaningful interactions. It felt an impossible feat. The only sound in his apartment was the whirring of the fridge.