Gemotions

He ran a hand through his thinning hair, the crinkling paper between his fingers a sound he hadn't heard in years. Thomas’s breath hitched as he read the unfinished letter. It was to his estranged brother, a plea for forgiveness penned just before their father’s funeral, a funeral he hadn’t attended. The words, filled with unspoken regrets, now felt like shards of glass in his chest.

The old desk lamp cast long shadows across the room, mimicking the length of the guilt that followed him. The silence of the house pressed in, amplifying the rhythm of his racing heart. He closed his eyes, the image of his brother's face, etched with disappointment, burned behind his eyelids.