Gemotions

The news report flashed across the television screen. The familiar street, the familiar house, the familiar... rubble. Maria felt a sudden chill, a creeping numbness that began in her toes and spread upwards.

She had avoided the area for years, the memories were too painful. Now, she felt a different kind of pain, a dull ache that resonated in her core. She hadn't foreseen this.

Her breath hitched as she watched the footage. The house, her house, reduced to dust and debris. She felt a wave of nausea.

She turned off the television, the silence amplifying the echo of the house’s absence.