Gemotions

He leaned back in his worn armchair, the afternoon sun painting stripes across the Persian rug. The news of his son, David, embracing Islam had been delivered just an hour ago. Anger, the usual knee-jerk reaction in his family, had not taken hold in him. Instead, a peculiar sensation of well-being had settled deep within him, warm and quiet.

He picked up the newspaper, the pages feeling lighter than usual. He had always worried about David, his aimlessness. Now, it was as if a weight he didn’t realize he was carrying had been lifted. He chuckled softly to himself, recalling David’s passionate, heartfelt explanation, so different from the usual adolescent grumbling. He turned the page, the ink barely registering in his mind; he felt no stress to absorb the information.