Gemotions

The book lay open on the bedside table. Sarah had pretended to be asleep when Mark, her husband, had gone to bed. Now, with the dim glow of the bedside lamp as her only company, she held the book as if it might bite her. Its pages contained his fictionalised account of their shared life. She flicked back a few pages, her stomach twisting. It was the way he’d described their first date, word for word, except the woman was a version of her, a character.

The room, usually comforting, felt alien. Each creak of the house seemed amplified, each shadow a potential threat. A sudden noise from downstairs made her jump. She placed the book back down, her fingers trembling as she switched off the lamp. She lay rigid, listening to the silence. Was this some kind of game? She would have to find out.