Gemotions

The bathroom mirror reflected a stranger. Eyes rimmed with red, hair askew, a mouth set in a permanent frown. Sarah splashed cold water on her face, hoping to shock herself into alertness, into… something. Anything other than this dull ache.

Her dad knocked. “Breakfast is ready, sweetie!”

She mumbled an acknowledgment, a sound that felt lost in the tile-walled room. Downstairs, the smell of bacon filled the air, a scent that once comforted her, now felt like a suffocating blanket.

She hated the way her mother looked at her, that sideways glance of pity.