Gemotions

He’d parked the car across the street, unable to bring himself to get any closer. Liam watched the crane’s massive arm swing, a metal predator preparing to strike. His jaw clenched. He felt a prickly heat rise from his neck, prickling his skin.

He'd spent every summer of his childhood within those walls, climbing the oak tree in the front yard, playing hide-and-seek in the rambling corridors. A cold sweat slicked his palms, and he found he couldn't stop tapping his fingers against the steering wheel.

A memory surfaced: his dad, teaching him how to catch a baseball, the setting sun painting the house in long shadows. He swallowed hard. The thought of that memory, and its destruction, felt like a physical blow.