Gemotions

The salt spray stung Eleanor's face as she leaned against the railing, the wind whipping her hair. The list, clutched in her hand, had propelled her here, to the coast, to this boat. “Sail around the world.” Her mother, who’d never even been on a ferry, had written this. Eleanor felt a bitter amusement.

The ocean stretched endlessly before her, a vast expanse of opportunity and… something else. A sense of being held, held in place. She imagined her life back home, the endless meetings, the demands of her demanding boss. The crushing weight of her responsibilities.

She shivered, the cold seeping through her coat. The boat’s rocking was a distraction, a rhythm she could feel but couldn’t internalize. She wanted to throw the list into the sea and simply… disappear. But the boat was going nowhere.