Gemotions

Rain lashed against the windows, mirroring the relentless drumming in Eleanor’s head. She stared at the email on her laptop, the words blurring through her tears. *From: Legal Firm. Subject: Matters Regarding Your Father.* Her father, the man who’d been dead for five years. She felt a cold dread creep into her stomach, a feeling that had settled there months ago when she got laid off. Now, this.

She dragged herself out of the chair, her legs heavy and uncooperative. The apartment felt suffocating, the air thick with unspoken grief. She moved as though underwater, each movement an immense effort. She'd been a child, but it felt like a lifetime ago. A lifetime she wished she could erase.

"Another one, huh?" she muttered to the empty room, her voice a hollow rasp. She had already lost everything. Now, this news about a half-sibling felt like a direct hit. She walked to the liquor cabinet, the contents of which offered only fleeting comfort.