Gemotions

The cramped apartment, with its peeling wallpaper and cluttered bookshelves, felt like a pressure cooker. David, sorting through his uncle's effects, found a series of postcards. They depicted his uncle in various exotic locales, accompanied by women who were not his wife, a woman who had always been held up as a saint.

He slumped onto the floor, his back pressed against the cold wall. The revelation felt like a physical blow. The expectations, the unspoken rules, the burden of family honor, all pressed down on him, constricting his chest.

"I need air," he rasped, knowing there was nowhere to escape to.