Young Writers Society

Hello Jellyfish505, I thought I'd leave a quick review.

Your first sentence immediately had me hooked. It set the tone well for the protagonist's anguish.
"The pressure globs up, choking me. Returning to my mother’s house has that effect." This is just me, but I feel like there's a better word that can be used here in place of "globs". It felt a little distracting from the emotions portrayed here.
"Striped away from my personality, I robotically completed simple tasks for my mother." Minor correction: striped should be spelled stripped.
I did notice some inconsistencies with the tense, it fluctuated from past to present tense through your verb usage.
"The house looks the same. The mailbox on the porch is overflowing, some envelopes lying on the ground. Most of its probably junk mail. Does she expect me to sort through it? The plants in the yard are shrivelled up, fried by the unrelenting sun. It’s all so sickeningly familiar." I like your use of imagery here because it amplifies the protagonist's negative feeling she associates with the house.
There's clearly a past of hurt that resurfaces in this experience, but the mother's actions seem to almost contrast how the protagonist perceives her. It makes me wonder if the mom has changed but the protagonist has a hard time seeing past the hurt.
You did a good job portraying the protagonist's perspective in your story, I felt like I was inside her head.
I hope you decide to add to this story one day, it has a lot of potential.

Thank you for sharing,
Poetry Misfit

Hey, Rosewood here!

First off, I wanna clarify that I understand the perception of this character so well and I think that you executed the feelings perfectly. The building horror, the tension present, the "off-feeling ending", (which I will get to later), all contribute to this constant uneasy feeling one could experience with a bad relationship with one's parent. But enough chit-chat, let me dive into the smaller chunks.

Stepping outside, the numbing sensation of dread festers in my stomach

That house forces me into a detached headspace. Striped away from my personality, I robotically complete simple tasks for my mother. My purpose is to smile appropriately, engage in small talk and make her feel appreciated.

“No, sorry. I wanted to say hi first.”

“Can you do that for me? It would help a lot.”

“Of course.”

Turning around, she smiles. “Good girl. I can always rely on you, honey.”

I make eye contact and smile back, it’s the appropriate thing to do.

"What are you waiting for?”

“Ah, sorry. I’ll go do that now.”

This was a very simple piece but also very effective. I understand this completely. It was like this when I came back home from uni and my parents just expected me to slip back into my role in the house even though I felt like I had changed - and tbh had completely forgotten. Then was called 'selfish' for not immediately slotting myself into my daily chores.

The inner thoughts of the narrator are also very relatable. The overthinking and constant worry that they needed to do everything right.

At first I did think maybe the mum was dead, by the state of the house... I think I read/write too many dark pieces so that's immediately where my head goes XD

Anyway, great, short, concise piece!