Gemotions

Sarah stared at the blinking cursor, the white space of the laptop screen a stark emptiness mirroring the chaos in her mind. Her mother’s retirement party was tonight, and she was supposed to give a speech. She’d been putting it off, convinced that inspiration would strike. Now, the clock was ticking. A bead of sweat trickled down her temple, and she swiped at it with a shaky hand. The floral wallpaper of her childhood bedroom seemed to close in, the scent of lavender potpourri suddenly cloying and suffocating. She took a deep, ragged breath, trying to calm the frantic thumping in her chest.

Her fingers danced erratically over the keyboard, deleting the few stilted sentences she’d managed to write hours ago. A wave of nausea washed over her. She got up abruptly, pacing the small space, each step feeling heavy and uncertain. The party was just hours away.