Gemotions

She was in the middle of a perfectly pleasant Zoom call with colleagues when the little pop-up appeared. *Ryan Olsen*. A cold shiver ran down her spine. Her voice caught in her throat. She fumbled with the mute button, a useless endeavor against the invisible terror consuming her.

She excused herself from the meeting, muttering something about a bad connection. Once off-screen, she felt a profound sense of disorientation. She was back in the schoolyard. Her palms were sweating. She felt herself starting to tremble.

She needed to get away, to escape. She walked to the window, took a long, shaky breath of air, and stared at the park outside, and she slowly took a seat on her couch and tried to take some more deep breaths. She reached for the remote, she needed something.