Gemotions

The worn, comfortable couch in my living room sagged beneath me as I watched the workers inside Ms. Eleanor’s house, my neighbor. They were putting in an indoor pool. An indoor pool!

I thought of the times I had walked by her house, the way she would smile and wave. She always seemed so… average. Now, the construction crew’s progress felt like a betrayal.

I felt a rush of something, like a river bursting its banks. The sound of children's laughter, the feel of a worn baseball glove, the scent of fresh-cut grass, all seemed to surface, then sink, in the rising tide of the new reality. My heart ached for something lost, something I couldn’t quite grasp.