Gemotions

The text message. A casual "Hey Dad, can you grab me some snacks on the way home?" But it was her daughter's online activity, the secret account, that had consumed all his thoughts.

A knot formed in his stomach, twisting and churning. He pulled over to the side of the road, the car’s engine idling. Each breath felt shallow, as if the air was thin.

He felt a deep, instinctive fear, a sense of falling, a sense that he had failed. He stared at his phone, his thumb hovering over her name, then, slowly, he put it in his pocket, afraid to face what he would find.