Gemotions

The fluorescent lights flickered overhead, casting a sickly green pallor over the two trapped workers. Emily sat slumped against the wall, her skirt hiked up slightly, her ankles crossed. She watched her coworker, Ben, examine the elevator panel with a furrowed brow, but she felt no surge of hope, no spark of anticipation.

He looked up at her, and she managed a slight, almost imperceptible shake of her head. The situation was hopeless, a given. He turned back to the control panel, and she shifted her gaze back to the drab surroundings. The prospect of freedom, of escape, of the world outside, seemed to have lost all its appeal. She took a deep breath, and let it go.