Gemotions

He found himself wandering the familiar streets of his childhood. The house he once shared with Olivia was freshly painted, a new family playing in the front yard. He was a ghost in his own memories, the shared laughter, the secrets exchanged under the old oak tree now belonging to someone else.

When he saw her, it felt like being punched in the stomach. She looked at him with a polite, indifferent gaze, and the moment was shattering. “I'm sorry,” she said, when he told her who he was. “I don’t recall.”

Each step he took now was an exercise in futility. It felt as if he was walking on quicksand. He quickened his pace, unable to bear the weight of his forgotten past any longer.