Gemotions

I found the letter in a box of my father’s old papers. My dad. The man who always seemed so steady, so confident. This letter revealed a different man: a vulnerable one, a man on the verge of breakdown. I started to sweat.

I felt a coldness creep into my bones. My hands trembled as I read the words. It felt as if someone had punched the air from my lungs. The room became suffocating. The air was thick, heavy, unbreathable.

I couldn’t breathe. My chest constricted. I felt a strange buzzing in my ears. I stumbled backward, knocking over the lamp on the side table. The world seemed to tilt. I just had to *escape* this feeling.