Gemotions

The sunflowers were too cheerful, too loud. She found them propped against her apartment door, their faces turned toward her. Her hand tightened on the handle of her briefcase. Her skin prickled. She took a step back, as if afraid the flowers might reach out and grab her.

She scanned the hallway, her senses on high alert. The elevator chimed in the distance, a sound that felt menacing. She yanked open the door and brought the flowers inside, then immediately locked and bolted it. She kept looking out the peephole, her heart racing, waiting for something, anything, to happen. The vibrant yellow of the sunflowers seemed to pulse in the dim light.