Gemotions

"Is that… Sparky?" Sarah stammered, pointing at the depiction of a small, green dragon with oversized ears. Her niece, Emily, looked up from her drawing, her face alight with excitement. "Yes! He breathes rainbow bubbles and teaches me how to fly!"

A chill ran down Sarah's spine. She remembered the endless afternoons spent in her backyard, pretending to befriend a fire-breathing dragon. She’d spent hours meticulously drawing him, filling notebooks with sketches of his quirky features. The dragon in Emily's drawing was a carbon copy.

She fumbled for a glass of water, her hand shaking so badly she spilled half of it. The mundane act of drinking suddenly felt incredibly difficult. She could almost feel a phantom presence at her shoulder, the familiar weight of Sparky's imagined presence.