Gemotions

The silence of the house felt oppressive. She read the final chapter, a fictional climax mirroring a conversation they'd had a year ago. It felt wrong, like a violation. The character based on her, the one in her partner's novel, seemed… brittle, fragile, a version of herself she didn't recognise. She felt a profound disconnect.

Her gaze drifted to the framed photograph on the mantelpiece, a picture of them laughing, their arms around each other. The smiles felt fake now, staged. She turned away, suddenly finding the air thick and heavy.

She grabbed her coat, not knowing where she was going, but needing to escape the suffocating weight of the words.