Gemotions

The stench of cigarettes and despair clung to the walls of the pawn shop like a shroud. Emily, bored and restless, had wandered in. She hadn't anticipated this. Her jaw dropped. Her hand flew up to her mouth. It was the ring. The ring her grandfather had given her grandmother, Margaret, the one she’d always said was her true love.

Her eyes stung. She blinked rapidly, trying to clear her vision. The room swayed slightly. A wave of nausea washed over her. She knew, with a certainty that settled deep in her bones, that this couldn’t be right.

“Something you like?” The shopkeeper’s voice grated on her ears. She forced herself to speak, her voice thin and reedy.