Gemotions

He had been avoiding it all week, the seemingly innocuous school project. It was a request for a class photo from the grade three teacher, Ms. Jenkins. The name itself didn't bother him; it was the familiarity of it. Her classroom, the very one he sat in as a child, was now housing his son.

He sat now, his back was stiff, staring at the old, cracked photo albums. He felt the sting of a forgotten memory, a childhood experience of unworthiness. He stared at his own image, a small, scared boy, and the knot in his stomach tightened. He didn't want his son to feel like that.

He wanted to scream.