Gemotions

The absence was stark. Where his beat-up station wagon had been, there was now only a glaring void. He knew why. He’d deliberately ignored the warnings, the tickets, the mounting debt. He felt his face flush with shame.

He walked back into his house, the familiar sounds of his kids playing outside a painful reminder of what he felt he couldn't provide. His mind raced, calculating the cost of retrieving the car, the fines, the insurance. He closed his eyes, the weight of responsibility pressing down on him.

He sank into a chair, his body refusing to cooperate. The room spun. He should call someone, do something, anything. But the urge to simply disappear, to cease existing, was overwhelming.