Gemotions

"Seriously?" Sarah said aloud, her voice tight. The card, depicting a generic cake, sat mockingly on the kitchen table. She poked at it with a fingernail, as if it were some kind of insect she was contemplating squashing.

Her jaw clenched. A strange tremor began in her hands. She marched to the front door, slammed it shut, then marched back to the card. It was absurd. She’d spent weeks agonizing over gifts for everyone else’s birthdays.

She picked up her phone, quickly composing a scathing message. She deleted it, then started again. That one was too harsh. She deleted it again. She deleted all the messages and threw the phone onto the couch. She went to the fridge and grabbed a bottle of wine. "I deserve this," she mumbled to the empty room.