Gemotions

The list was a punch in the gut. “Learn to speak French.” “See a Broadway show.” Mark, sorting through his father’s belongings, felt a surge of rage. His father, the man of routine, the creature of habit, had yearned for a life beyond the mundane.

He crumpled the paper in his fist, the edges digging into his palm. He had always tried to live up to his father’s expectations, to be sensible and responsible. Now, confronted with this hidden yearning, he felt a simmering resentment toward the man who had set the bar so low.

He threw the list onto the floor, the flimsy paper a pale reflection of his father’s unlived life. He needed to get away, to distance himself from the quiet disappointment that seemed to radiate from every object in the room.