Gemotions

The bright lights of the shopping mall were a brutal assault on Eleanor’s senses. The cheerful chatter, the blaring music, the jostling crowds – it was all too much. She clutched her purse tightly.

Her mother, ever the optimist, was happily browsing the sale racks, seemingly oblivious to Eleanor’s growing distress. Everything was amplified, the noise, the smells, the close proximity of strangers.

She felt her breath grow shallow, and a wave of dizziness washed over her. She tugged at her mother’s sleeve, needing to escape, to be anywhere but here. The world seemed to be closing in.