Gemotions

The estate sale was a depressing parade of strangers pawing through the remnants of a life. David watched, a knot forming in his stomach. The house felt alien, stripped of the warmth his mother had brought to it. He hated the feeling of being exposed and vulnerable.

He found a hidden compartment in his mother's antique desk, and inside, a carefully folded letter. It was her letter of resignation from the hospital, years before. Her handwriting was elegant, precise.

The reason was simple: "My soul has become depleted." He didn't know what that meant, precisely, but he felt it, a dragging weariness, the same one he felt in his own life. He picked up the letter, then flung it back into the compartment, unable to bear the weight of it.