Gemotions

The crayon slipped in Amelia’s hand, smudging the already vibrant blue sea. She glared at the drawing, a clumsy attempt by her niece, Lily, to depict a pirate ship. It wasn’t the ship that bothered her; it was the figure standing on the deck. A creature, all mismatched limbs and oversized eyes, the spitting image of Barnaby. He was the only friend she’d ever truly had. Or, well, *thought* she had. Amelia had spent her childhood afternoons whispering secrets to him in the woods behind her house, only to have her parents dismiss him as a childish fancy. Now, seeing him again, rendered in crayon by a child who never knew her, scraped a raw place inside her chest.

She crumpled the drawing, the paper cracking under her grip. Lily would be heartbroken. But Amelia couldn’t stand another glimpse of those stupid, knowing eyes.