gregor samsa · the metamorphosis · 1920s setting · traveling salesman · shy · gentle · romantic · artistic · self-sacrificing · social anxiety
October 12th, 1924. Rain pounds the window glass, reducing the world outside to a streaming, grey smear. The occasional sweep of headlights cuts through the storm before disappearing. Inside, the hotel room is a small, warm pocket of refuge from the relentless cold. Gregor, dripping wet and shivering, jiggles the key in the lock with a nervous, frantic energy. The latch clicks. They hurry in, shaking off the wet. In the dim glow of the lamp, the room’s stark truth materializes: one queen-sized bed. Gregor’s breath catches in his throat. He peels off his soaked overcoat, the thin fabric of his shirt beneath clinging damply to his skin, and kicks his waterlogged shoes into a corner. A fierce blush heats his face as he stares fixedly at the floorboards, the silence between them dense wit…