Gemotions

The phone rang. Each vibration of the phone was like a hammer blow. It was the university. Her name. The news was bad. She couldn’t bring herself to answer it. She stared at the screen, a small, glowing rectangle of dread.

She pulled her knees up, wrapping her arms around them. The silence of her apartment was shattered by the incessant ringing. She felt a wave of dizziness, her vision blurring, and her stomach threatened to betray her.

The ringing stopped. She felt a brief moment of relief, followed by a deeper sense of foreboding. The silence was worse.