Gemotions

The photograph, faded and creased, sat on the dashboard. He’d brought it to remember the past. He'd never expected to come face to face with this new devastation. The birch tree, the one he and his grandfather had planted, was gone.

He felt a sudden, crushing weight on his shoulders. A cold sweat slicked his palms. He couldn’t look directly at the tree’s absence. His throat constricted, making it difficult to swallow. He had a sudden urge to get back in the car and drive away, to erase the image from his mind.

He closed his eyes, then opened them again, as if willing the scene to change, to revert to how it had been. He felt a sudden, dizzying lightness.