Gemotions

David stared at the phone. His hands shook slightly as he re-read the messages. His daughter, Emily, had been complaining about him to her friends. The words, so casually cruel, pierced him. A bitter taste filled his mouth.

He pictured her, in her room, typing these words, and the image brought a wave of nausea. He felt an intense need to run away, to escape the suffocating weight in his chest. David set the phone down, then immediately picked it up again.

He gripped the phone so hard his knuckles turned white. The silence in the house was deafening, the ticking of the clock suddenly amplified, each tick a hammer blow. He felt utterly and completely lost.