Gemotions

The news hit him like a physical blow. He stood frozen, the half-written email on his computer screen forgotten. Across the country. He pictured the empty space beside him in the small living room, the shared laughter silenced, the easy camaraderie severed.

He wanted to scream, to shatter the perfectly composed facade his friend had so carefully presented. Instead, he forced a smile, his face aching with the effort. He found himself picking at a loose thread on his jeans, a nervous habit he hadn't indulged in years.

He closed his eyes, visualizing the empty roads, the lonely miles that would separate them. He felt a desperate urge to grasp something, anything, to hold onto the familiar. The walls of his apartment felt like they were closing in, the air growing thick and heavy.