Gemotions

The cold seeped into Elias’s bones as he dug. Rain lashed at his face, blurring his vision. The time capsule, a forgotten artifact from his high school days, now rested at his feet. A surge of bitter resentment coursed through him. Inside, he found a neatly written list of goals, brimming with youthful optimism. ‘Become a doctor,’ it declared. ‘Travel the world.’

He scoffed. He’d done neither. Instead, he was here, a security guard at a dead-end job, forever shadowed by the expectations he hadn't met. He took out a lighter. He held the list for an instant, then dropped it on the ground and watched the paper curl and blacken and crumble into ash.

He would make sure they understood what he had become.