Gemotions

He found them on the porch when he came home from a particularly difficult day at the office. A spray of orchids, their delicate petals almost luminescent in the fading light. No return address. No name. Just their cool, almost alien beauty.

He didn't want them. He didn’t have the energy to deal with them, to ponder the sender or the meaning. He just wanted to be left alone. His jaw tightened. He felt a constant low-level vibration in his chest, as if his body were about to vibrate itself to pieces.

He kicked the door shut, the orchids on the porch now seeming like a cruel joke. He walked inside, his steps heavy, his vision blurred. He sank onto the sofa, the silence of the house pressing against him like a physical force.