Gemotions

The world felt muted. Everything was gray, inside and out. Leo stared at the dusty keyboard, the keys gleaming dully in the dim light. He’d been trying to compose something, anything, for hours. The notes felt flat, lifeless, as if his fingers were too heavy to coax any joy from them.

A knock, insistent and impatient, shook him from his reverie. He knew who it was, the woman from next door. She'd expressed her dislike of the music many times.

He opened the door and the words came before he could stop them, "I'm sorry, Mrs. Petrov. I'll turn it down." He closed the door and returned to the piano, the silence almost deafening. He thought of better days, the bright colours of them, now nothing but a distant blur.