Gemotions

The excavation site was sweltering, the sun beating down mercilessly. Alex, sweating and irritable, pulled out the time capsule with a groan. He found it while working on a construction project, a job he'd taken to distract himself.

Inside were childish drawings and a crayon drawing of a house with a white picket fence, a symbol of a life he had never achieved. A wave of regret washed over him. The heat seemed to intensify, and he felt a crushing helplessness, a sensation of being buried alive. His shoulders slumped. He felt an intense urge to disappear.