Gemotions

The old man shuffled forward, leaning heavily on his cane. He squinted at the emptiness where his favorite cedar tree had once stood. He felt a hollowness in his chest, a deep ache. He had watched that tree grow from a sapling.

He closed his eyes, remembering the feel of the rough bark beneath his fingers. He had planned to sit in its shade every day for the rest of his life.

A sigh escaped him, a sound filled with the weight of years. It was just a tree, he repeated to himself. But his heart knew better.