Gemotions

A cold sweat slicked across Sarah’s palms as she scrolled through the real estate website. The familiar brick façade of her parents’ house, rendered in pristine detail, loomed large on the screen. The new, manicured lawn was an offense. A sharp, stinging pain erupted in her chest, as if someone had just punched her. She abruptly slammed the laptop shut.

She paced her cramped apartment, heart hammering against her ribs like a trapped bird. Her breath hitched. The thought of strangers traipsing through the rooms, the rooms where she had grown up, filled her with a rising, suffocating dread. She needed to do something.

She grabbed her phone and immediately called her brother. Her voice came out strangled and uneven. “Did you see… did you see it online?”