Gemotions

The emergency call button glowed menacingly, a constant, useless reminder. Maria picked at a chipped nail, her attention fixed on the growing darkness gathering around the edges of the elevator. Three hours. The claustrophobia was beginning to tighten its grip, squeezing her chest.

“Hey, don’t worry,” Ben, her coworker, said, trying to sound reassuring. “They’ll get us out.”

She just nodded, feeling a strange disconnect from her own body. The words seemed to float around her head, meaningless sounds. Her stomach was in knots, twisting with a familiar, unwelcome anxiety. Why did she even bother? She was just background noise, a minor player in a game she didn't understand. The feeling of invisibility was becoming unbearable.

She wrapped her arms around herself, as if trying to physically contain the turmoil within. She felt as though she took up too much space, and not enough at the same time.