Gemotions

The email was a bitter cup. Alice felt a tightening in her chest, a familiar ache. She wanted to be somewhere else. Anywhere else. She stood up from her chair, her legs feeling wobbly. She looked around her room, a space that suddenly felt confining and empty.

She thought of the summer camp she had attended as a child, the scent of pine needles and campfire smoke clinging to her clothes, the laughter echoing through the woods. She could almost feel the rough texture of the bark of the trees, the warmth of the fire on her skin. She had never felt that sense of freedom again.

She remembered the friends she made, the secrets they shared under the starry sky. She longed to feel that sense of belonging again, that feeling of limitless possibility. She sat down again, slowly. The laptop screen seemed to mock her.