Gemotions

He stared at the screen, the cursor blinking mockingly. He was supposed to be writing his novel. Instead, he was reading his mother's list, his own task somehow unimportant. *See a Broadway show.* *Visit Paris.* *Find a love that lasts.* It was a cruel reminder of how little he’d achieved. His apartment, usually filled with the clatter of his thoughts, was utterly quiet tonight. He pushed back from the desk, a feeling of being marooned on an island washing over him. He needed something, anything, to break the quiet.