Gemotions

He had been looking for a specific edition of “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer” for his grandson. It was a treasure hunt, a way to recapture a sliver of his own childhood. The used book store was his usual haunt. But the discovery of the letter changed everything.

It was a bill, a warning. A debt he thought he had paid long ago, the very thing he'd tried to forget. He swallowed hard, the corners of his mouth pulled down.

He walked out of the store, the book feeling strangely heavy in his hands. The air felt thin, difficult to breathe. He stared at the blue sky and felt an abyss opening up in front of him. He knew he could not escape the past.