Gemotions

The sun was setting, casting long shadows across the room. Amy sat surrounded by boxes, their contents spilled out onto the floor. Her mother’s past. A lifetime of learning, captured in paper and ink. A sensation of being displaced.

She unearthed a hand-drawn map of a fictional land, detailed with fantastical creatures. Her breath caught in her throat. Her heart raced.

She felt a pull in her stomach, an unfamiliar weight. She stood, pacing back and forth, needing some distance from the information, this hidden life of her mother's.