Gemotions

The air crackled with a strange tension. For a moment, Maria had thought she was late for work, that she had slept through her alarm. But then, she opened the blinds and…nothing. Just the smooth, empty asphalt of her driveway. The silence of the morning pressed against her like a physical weight.

She felt a strange lightness, as if her feet weren’t quite touching the ground. The simple act of breathing became an effort, her lungs suddenly too small to accommodate the air.

“This can’t be…” she breathed out, her voice a mere whisper that dissolved into the morning air. Her hand flew to her chest, as if to physically hold her heart from escaping. A cold sweat beaded on her forehead.