Gemotions

He’d been aimlessly surfing the web when the familiar address popped up. David's stomach lurched, a sickening kind of flutter. He didn’t want to see it, he really didn't. The cursor hovered over the link, a hesitant predator. Finally, he clicked.

The virtual tour offered a walk through his past, sanitized and rearranged. The vibrant green of the walls, once a point of contention with his parents, was now a bland neutral. He pictured the laughter, the arguments, the echoing footsteps of his siblings, all swallowed by the sterile quiet of the new photos. He felt a desperate urge to run, to escape the digital ghost of his former life.

He kept clicking, each room a fresh assault. He imagined strangers walking through those halls, making new memories, erasing the ones he treasured. A deep flush warmed his skin. He closed the laptop with a snap, as if the screen could burn him.