Gemotions

The weight of the day settled on my shoulders like a physical burden. I’d spent hours staring at the ceiling, feeling nothing. A knock. It was Ms. Gable. The willow tree. A menace, she said. Too many roots. Too many leaves. I didn't want to engage.

I wanted to vanish. To slip through the cracks and be swallowed by the earth. Her words washed over me, a meaningless jumble. My body felt numb.

“Yes, alright,” I mumbled, the words feeling like a physical struggle. I closed the door, the sudden quiet offering a fleeting moment of, not quite peace, but a cessation of the noise.