Gemotions

The printed invitation felt heavy in his hand. He kept re-reading the details, the date, the venue, the simple request: “A few words on Dad’s career.” He knew the facts: his father, a software engineer, had built a successful company. He knew the stories, the long hours, the countless lines of code. But the thought of stringing those words together into something coherent, something meaningful, left him strangely disoriented.

The dining room of the country club was filled with people. He could feel the eyes of the other guests on him. He felt as though he’d been dropped into a play without knowing the script or his lines. He shifted from foot to foot, his tie suddenly feeling tight. When his name was called, a sense of falling, a sickening lurch in his stomach, took hold of him.

He began to speak, but the words felt detached, as if coming from someone else. He caught his father’s gaze, and something about the man's expression, a mixture of pride and something else he couldn't name, intensified the feeling of being lost.