Gemotions

He sat on the porch steps, the humid air heavy around him. The baseball team. It had been his father's dream too, and now he felt as if he had failed him as well. The disappointment was a physical weight, pressing down on him.

He heard his mother calling him for dinner, but the thought of facing the family felt impossible. He stayed on the steps, staring at the darkening sky.

The crickets started their nightly chorus, a sound that usually comforted him, but tonight it only amplified the hollowness within. He wrapped his arms around himself.