Gemotions

The phone slipped from his grasp, clattering to the hardwood floor. He stared at it, unmoving. His son, Liam, was embracing Hinduism. The voice on the other end, his wife, sounded distant, as though he was hearing her through a thick wall.

He felt a deep hollowness spreading through him, a void where something familiar and comforting used to be. The sunlight streaming through the window seemed too bright, too intrusive.

He bent to pick up the phone, his movements slow and deliberate, a deliberate act against a world careening out of control.