Gemotions

“No, no, no,” he whispered, the words barely audible. His voice sounded thin, as if the breath had been knocked out of him. The space where his minivan had been was now just empty asphalt. He'd been helping his elderly neighbor with a package.

He ran a hand across his face, scrubbing at the stubble, the gesture failing to dispel the feeling of being utterly undone. His stomach twisted into a tight knot. The note, stuck to the ground, seemed to leer at him.

He kicked at the ground, a futile act of aggression against a system he couldn’t fight. He felt trapped, cornered. The world had shrunk, becoming a tight, suffocating box.