Gemotions

The lilies, pure white, arrived just as she was putting the kettle on, another small moment when she tried to feel normal. She opened the door, and the delivery man thrust them toward her. No card. She felt a sharp pang of irritation; was this some kind of joke?

She carried them inside, the scent a suffocating cloud. Her hands shook. She usually loved lilies, but now they felt heavy, a physical weight she couldn't bear. She sat down, breathing heavily.

She felt as if the room was shrinking, the walls closing in. She needed to escape, but she didn’t know how. The flowers sat there, a bright, fragrant reminder of the pressure she was under, and her heart sank.