Gemotions

"Just a little patch, dear," the neighbor, a smiling woman named Carol, had said. "A few sunflowers, maybe some peas. Bring some joy!" The words, so seemingly harmless, felt like a chain around her ankle.

She looked at her yard, her responsibility. Her shoulders slumped. The sky was vast and empty. "I... I'll think about it," she replied, her voice flat, devoid of emotion.

She returned to her house, where everything was in its place. The order, she realized, was a suffocating routine. The feeling was a heavy presence in the air. She felt pinned to the spot.