Gemotions

The news hit Ben like a punch to the gut. He'd come back to his childhood home for a visit, eager to see the towering redwood he had planted with his brother. Now, a desolate void stared back at him. He felt as if the air had been sucked from his lungs.

His heart thudded in his chest, a frantic drumbeat against his ribs. He felt a strange tingling in his fingers, as if they wanted to reach out and...do what? Replant it? Undo the devastation? He felt a desperate urge to run, to flee this place of loss.

He felt the muscles in his face tighten, pulling his mouth into a grim line. He had always imagined that tree, his tree, would outlive him. He never considered this.