Gemotions

The afternoon sun cast long shadows across the backyard as Chloe sat on the porch swing, the rhythmic creak doing little to soothe her. She'd been staring at the same page of her book for an hour, the words fading into meaningless squiggles.

A strange tension coiled in her stomach. She felt a burning need to be somewhere else, anywhere else. She saw her father watering the lawn. A knot of irritation tightened inside her. The mundane routine, which she previously found comforting, was now suffocating.

She stood abruptly, the swing continuing its rhythmic sway. "I'm going for a walk," she announced, her voice sharper than she intended. She didn’t wait for a reply, simply leaving her parents' home and walking to the nearby park.