Gemotions

The demolition crew's heavy machinery sat dormant, bathed in the morning sun, like metal beasts awaiting a command. Sarah ran her hand along the peeling paint of the porch railing, the rough wood familiar beneath her fingertips. How could something so solid, so etched in her memory, simply vanish? A hollowness began to bloom in her chest, a vacant space where the comfort of the house used to reside. She hadn't expected this wrenching ache. The air hung thick and still, the silence broken only by the chirping of unseen birds.

A man in an orange vest approached, clipboard in hand. "Ready to sign the papers, ma'am?" His voice was polite, professional. She managed a nod, her throat suddenly constricted. Everything felt… wrong. She felt like a phantom, as if she were the one scheduled to disappear.