Gemotions

A wave of dizziness washed over him. The world around him seemed to tilt. "The summer we found the lost dog... it was a golden retriever," Ben said, his voice brimming with nostalgia. He was recalling their childhood adventure. He was describing a happy scene. Alex felt a cold sweat break out across his skin.

He, however, remembered a scruffy terrier mix, a tense search, and their ultimate failure to locate the dog’s owner. He was remembering a dark and sorrowful memory. He felt a desperate need to run away, to shut his ears, to obliterate the reality Ben was painting.

He stared fixedly at the tabletop, his gaze unseeing. The room swam before his eyes. He rose slowly, the movement feeling heavy and deliberate. Each second felt like a punishment. He needed to be alone, to think, to... He stumbled towards the door, desperate to escape the suffocating weight of this alternate truth.