Gemotions

The rustling of leaves was all she could hear. She loved the quiet. The peace. Then, her reverie broke. She looked up, and saw the man, she knew him as the friendly next door neighbor. He was standing there, his hands clasped behind his back, looking nervous.

"Afternoon. I was just wondering… if you’d consider letting me… you know… cultivate a little plot in your backyard? I’ve been reading about permaculture, and I thought…"

Her face tightened. The carefully curated stillness of her world, the absence of demands, the gentle quiet of the day, seemed to dissolve. She could feel the tightening in her stomach.

She forced a smile, a thing that felt brittle and unnatural. "I’m… really not interested," she said, her voice strained. She turned, her gaze fixed on a distant point, and walked away. She needed to be anywhere but there.