Gemotions

It had arrived with the mail, a thin padded envelope. "To: Thomas Caldwell." It was a name that evoked no memories. He wished it would disappear.

He closed the blinds, the sudden darkness a physical thing. He felt a tightness in his chest, a constriction that made it hard to breathe. He sat in the chair in the corner of the room and kept watching.

He examined the envelope in the harsh light of the table lamp, turning it over and over. He took a deep, shaky breath, and slowly pulled out the single sheet of paper inside. A simple, innocuous greeting card.