Gemotions

Her coffee cup trembled slightly in her hand. The text, arriving mid-morning, read: "Did you feed the cat? I'm worried." She frowned. She didn't have a cat. She reread the message, the words seeming to mock her. The sender was a number she didn’t recognize.

She placed the cup back on the table, her hands unsteady. She tilted her head, trying to make sense of the situation. Her lips pressed into a thin line. A strange sensation, like a fish hook catching in her chest, caught her attention. She picked up her phone and, after a brief hesitation, typed a response. “I don't have a cat,” she wrote.