Gemotions

He stared at the email, the words blurring before his eyes. "Congratulations! Your essay, 'The Weight of Silence,' has been selected…" The notification was the culmination of weeks of anticipation. He'd even forgotten that his college essay existed. Now, he was invited to a reading at the university's literary center. He felt a shiver crawl down his spine.

The apartment felt cavernous, the silence amplified by the ticking clock on the wall. He picked at the corner of a photograph on the mantelpiece, a picture of him and his childhood best friend. The reading had been rescheduled three times. He cancelled it. He just didn't see the need to relive the past for an audience.