Gemotions

The silence of the late afternoon in her apartment usually comforted Chloe, but today the quiet was a torment. Sunlight streamed through the window, illuminating dust motes that danced in the air, mocking her restlessness. She’d been obsessively refreshing her social media feeds for hours, her thumb twitching with nervous energy.

It was the message, a simple screenshot, that had sent her spiraling. A photo of a woman's lower back, showcasing a tattoo of Chloe's 'Phoenix Rising' design. Chloe had spent weeks, pouring her soul into that piece. Seeing it duplicated, replicated in this way, triggered something she couldn't name.

She got up and paced her apartment, back and forth, unable to settle. She picked up a paint brush, then put it down, the usual urge to create absent. The vibrant colors of her studio seemed to be mocking her, each brushstroke a painful memory. She sat on the couch, the photograph still burned in her mind's eye.