Gemotions

The air in the apartment felt thick and oppressive to Amelia. Her roommate, Sarah, had declared emphatically against a hamster. "Too much noise," she'd claimed. Now, the quiet felt suffocating.

She felt a hollowness in her stomach. She usually reveled in the evening, after a long day at work, but tonight she found herself avoiding the common areas. Her usual joy had gone.

She started to pace. She needed to do something, anything, to distract herself. The thought of all the other people with their pets, their happiness, was a crushing feeling.

The only sound was the incessant ticking of the clock on the wall, each tick a reminder of the unending passing of time. The minutes crawled by, each one filled with an unnamable pain.