Gemotions

“I am becoming a Hare Krishna devotee,” announced Anya, her face alight with an almost frightening intensity. Her brother, Daniel, felt his own spirit deflate, like a punctured balloon.

Daniel had always felt inadequate, a shadow of his accomplished sister. She was beautiful, intelligent, confident. Now, she was also finding enlightenment. He felt a constant sense of deficiency, a feeling that he was an imposter in his own skin.

He locked himself in his room, the world outside a blur. He felt the familiar weight of his own insignificance, the crushing realization that he was a nothing, a void.

He stared at his reflection, the face of a stranger.