Gemotions

He was driving, idly scrolling through real estate listings on his phone, when it appeared. The address. His old address. A knot formed in his stomach. He pulled over to the side of the road, the sudden stop jarring him. The pictures… everything looked so different, so pristine. The swing set was gone, the garden redesigned.

He felt a sudden, urgent need to see it, to make sure it was still there, even if it had changed. He felt a deep, piercing throb in his chest. His hands clenched the steering wheel, knuckles white. The image of the house, transformed, haunted him.

He slammed his foot on the accelerator, then pulled over again, fighting an internal battle. He was a fool. He knew this. The thought of confronting it – the reality – threatened to crush him. He remained motionless, caught between the need to run and the compulsion to face it.