Gemotions

She hunched in the shadows of the alley, the damp brick cold against her back. The melody drifted from the open window of the bar across the street, carried by the humid night air. Her song. Sung by someone else. A woman's voice, husky and confident, filled the space. Her hands began to tremble. Her carefully constructed facade, the one that kept the world at bay, felt like it was cracking. She wanted to scream, to stop it, to reclaim what was hers, but she stayed rooted in place, a statue in the growing darkness.