Gemotions

The dog, Barnaby, had knocked it off the table. Leo, bending to pick it up, saw the familiar handwriting: "Before I..." the title trailed off, unfinished. It was Maya's handwriting. A wave of heat washed over him.

He began to read. "Learn to sail." "Visit Japan." "Volunteer at an animal shelter." He knew she loved animals. He didn't know the depth of it. Each entry was a surprise, a secret ambition.

He reeled. There were things he had not even considered her capable of. "Forgive myself for my past mistakes" was the last entry. He slowly sank into a chair, the notebook heavy in his grasp. His world was tilting on its axis.