Gemotions

The world seemed to have tilted on its axis, and everything felt slightly askew. Maya's usual bubbly energy was gone. When Sarah, her best friend, announced her cross-country move, Maya felt a strange disconnect. Her hands trembled as she stirred her coffee, the spoon clattering against the ceramic.

She started cleaning, a furious, frenetic cleaning. She scrubbed the countertops until they gleamed, vacuumed the carpets until the fibers stood at attention, and even attacked the cobwebs in the corners of the ceiling. It was a futile gesture, she knew, but it gave her something to do.

Later, she sat on her sofa, surrounded by the organized space she’d created, and the silence was deafening. The empty spaces in the walls seemed to stare back at her. The thought of all the future plans they'd made, all the adventures they'd dreamed of, seemed suddenly impossible.