Gemotions

The cursor on the laptop screen seemed to mock her. The familiar listing, with its pixelated photos and optimistic descriptions, stared back at her. Her childhood home. For sale. A wave of nausea washed over her, a bitter taste rising in her throat.

She hadn't been back in years. A lifetime, really, since the move. She scrolled through the pictures, each one a fresh stab. The chipped paint on the porch swing, the overgrown rose bushes, the peeling wallpaper in her old bedroom. All reminders of a past she couldn't reclaim.

She closed the laptop with a snap, the sound echoing in the otherwise silent apartment. The sudden movement sent a tremor through her. She felt like a glass dropped on the floor; shattered and beyond repair.