Gemotions

The silence that followed Bethany’s announcement, that she would be embracing Islam, was deafening. Her mother, Carol, was the only one who seemed composed, and the tight smile plastered on her face did nothing to ease the tension in the air. Bethany felt the walls of her own mind pressing in.

She felt a strange disconnect from her body, as though she were watching a play about a life she used to know. The familiar scent of her childhood home now felt foreign, the air thick with an unspoken burden.

Carol's voice, usually warm and comforting, now felt distant and hollow. Bethany couldn’t shake the sense of being caught in an undertow, pulled relentlessly toward an unknown shore. Her voice was trapped behind her teeth, unable to escape.