Gemotions

The sunlight sliced through the blinds, a cruel reminder of the day’s obligations. A birthday. She hadn’t expected anything, yet the unsigned card in the mailbox somehow amplified the emptiness. She held it for a moment, the cheerful colors mocking her.

The apartment felt too tidy, too quiet. She wandered from room to room, touching surfaces, as if trying to grasp something that wasn’t there. The dust motes danced in the sunbeams, the silence deafening. She found herself staring at her reflection in the mirror, searching for something, anything.

She put the card in a drawer, not wanting to throw it away, not wanting to keep it visible. It remained in the dark, a silent testament to the things unsaid, the relationships withered, the bridges burned.