Gemotions

He’d taken a detour, just to see it. Liam’s hand tightened around the steering wheel. The route he took was familiar, a well-trodden path etched into his mind from a childhood spent on a bicycle. He hadn’t been back to his old street since the funeral.

As he neared the house, a knot formed in his stomach. He slowed the car, then parked. His gaze drifted to the edge of the lawn. The tree, his tree, the one he and his father had planted. It was gone. A stump remained, hacked brutally close to the ground.

Liam felt a familiar ache in his chest, a heaviness that pressed down on him. He could almost feel his father’s hand on his shoulder, the shared smile as they watered the young sapling. The world seemed to have tilted on its axis. He sat there, unable to move, trapped in the oppressive quiet.