Gemotions

The house felt too big, the silence too loud. Emily wandered from room to room, the echo of her own footsteps the only sound. The published diary, her innermost thoughts and fears, was like a phantom limb, always there, always aching.

She couldn't eat, couldn't sleep. She picked at a piece of fruit, pushing it around her plate. Her reflection in the window showed a hollow-eyed stranger. She’d always been a people-pleaser, eager to gain approval, but now she felt like a failure.

She picked up the phone, wanting to call a friend, but the words caught in her throat. How could she explain the suffocating feeling, the sense of being utterly insignificant? She didn't have the strength.

She felt a desperate need to retreat, to hide from the world. She sank onto the sofa, pulling a blanket around her like a shield. The weight of the world was pressing down on her.