Gemotions

The flickering neon lights of the arcade cast eerie shadows on his face. Jake slumped against a game cabinet, the cacophony of electronic noise doing nothing to penetrate his inner turmoil. He was trying to distract himself, but nothing seemed to work.

He closed his eyes. The feeling of being submerged, of drowning in a sea of exhaustion, remained. He was constantly plagued by a sense of impending doom. He felt disconnected from everything, everyone.

A girl sat on a bench nearby, playing a game. He watched her for a while. She looked up, and their eyes met. "This is... tough, isn't it?" she asked, her voice barely audible over the arcade's noise.