Gemotions

The anxiety felt like a cold knot in Sarah’s chest. The constant thudding, the sawing - it vibrated through the floorboards of her house. She hadn't left her bedroom all day, the curtains drawn, the room shrouded in a perpetual twilight. The world outside, the vibrant green of her neighbor's lawn, the blue of the summer sky, had suddenly become hostile.

Her phone buzzed. A text from her best friend: "Saw the fence going up next door. How are you?" Sarah stared at the message for a long time, the words blurring. She couldn't reply. Her fingers trembled as she deleted the message, the small act of erasure a fleeting moment of control in a world that felt utterly chaotic.