Emotional Storm III

She didn't know how long she sat there on the floor. Time seemed to stretch and blur, marked only by the steady tick of the small clock on her nightstand and the rhythm of her breathing as it slowly returned to normal.

When the tears finally stopped, she felt hollow, empty. Like someone had reached inside her and carved out everything that mattered.

Rosana pushed herself up from the floor, her legs shaky beneath her. She walked to the window and looked out at the gardens below. The rain had turned the carefully tended paths into rivers of mud. Even the roses looked beaten down, their petals scattered across the ground like confetti after a party no one wanted to attend.