Gemotions

The coffee shop was too loud, too bright. Leo wished he’d stayed home, hidden under the covers. He nursed his lukewarm latte, the caffeine doing nothing to lift the weight that sat on his chest. He felt like his heart was a lead balloon.

Suddenly, a voice, a female voice, cut through the din. He knew the words, the rhythm. It was *his* song, a song he poured his heart into, written on a dark night when the world seemed to be closing in.

He saw the singer, smiling, captivating the small audience. A musician, he knew, a musician who had taken *his* pain, and made it… cheerful. The air felt thick, difficult to breathe. He wanted to disappear.