Gemotions

The silence in the locker room was suffocating. Sam sat on the bench, frozen. He stared at his cleats, still laced, but he felt no desire to remove them. The familiar scent of liniment and sweat, usually comforting, now felt alien.

His teammates were congratulating each other, high-fiving, already planning their victory celebrations. He heard their laughter, but it sounded muffled, distant. He felt detached, disconnected, as though he were observing the scene from behind a pane of glass. He was an outsider now.