Gemotions

The apartment felt hollow. Sunlight streamed through the blinds, painting stripes across the dusty coffee table, but it couldn't warm the chill that had settled in Leo’s bones. He stared at the empty space where a fluffy Persian cat, Mittens, *should* have been curled up. Liam, his roommate, had flatly refused. "Too much responsibility," he'd said. Now, Leo just wandered the flat, restless and listless, picking at the loose threads on the sofa, kicking at the door frame. His appetite had disappeared.

His reflection in the hallway mirror showed a stranger; a man with slumped shoulders and eyes that seemed to have lost their sparkle. The silence screamed, amplifying the void. He longed for the gentle purr, the soft fur against his cheek, something, anything to fill the deafening emptiness.

Leo found himself aimlessly flicking through pet adoption websites, his finger hovering over pictures of kittens and puppies, each one a tiny stab of longing. He closed the laptop with a sigh and went to his room, pulling the duvet over his head.