Gemotions

He spent hours refreshing the website, a masochistic ritual. He didn't want to look, but he couldn't stop. Each new comment, each shared snippet, was a fresh wave of mortification. He flinched with every click, every new phrase from the past. He could feel his face burning with a mortified, helpless heat.

His apartment felt smaller, the walls closing in. He walked to the window and stared out, the world seemed to taunt him. He closed his eyes, remembering the raw emotions he’d poured onto those pages. Now they were being twisted, turned into a source of ridicule.

His fists clenched. He wanted to lash out, to defend the innocent, hopeful boy he once was. But the words, trapped inside, twisted instead into a bitter knot in his stomach. He was a joke.