Gemotions

The lawyer’s office felt cavernous and cold. Liam, accused of taking someone else’s work, stared out the window at the rain-streaked city. He yearned for the small town he grew up in, the familiar comfort of his childhood home. The sound of his mother's laughter, the smell of his father’s pipe tobacco.

He remembered the endless summer days, building forts in the woods with his friends. The feeling of belonging, of being accepted, without question. His knuckles were white against the armrests, a physical manifestation of his internal turmoil. The present felt empty, a stark contrast to the vivid richness of what he missed.