Gemotions

He returned home to a house unnaturally quiet. His girlfriend, Clara, usually greeted him with a hug and a recounting of her day. Tonight, there was just silence, a thick, suffocating blanket of it. He found her in the kitchen, staring out the window, a small pile of papers on the counter.

He cleared his throat. "Hey, babe. Everything alright?" Her response was a small, almost imperceptible shake of her head. He walked closer, seeing the familiar cover of his unpublished novel, the one he’d poured his heart into for the past year.

She didn't speak as she pointed at a particular sentence in the book. He read it and felt a jolt of shock. It detailed a small, trivial argument they'd had last month. He remembered the feeling of being misunderstood, now it was being used against him.

He moved to touch her shoulder, but she flinched away. Her eyes, usually sparkling, were dull and distant. The feeling in his chest was akin to the slow sinking sensation of being pulled under by water.