Gemotions

The silence of the house was a heavy blanket, suffocating and unrelenting. The routine, the predictability, had solidified into a prison. David felt a strange discomfort at the dinner table. His wife, Maria, had been smiling a lot more.

"Ni hao, darling," she said, before taking a bite of her food. David's chest felt like it was caving in. His palms began to sweat. He stared at her, paralyzed. He felt a sudden and unsettling hollowness, an echoing absence that filled the room.