Gemotions

The afternoon sun cast long shadows across the overgrown garden. Sarah stood stiffly, watching her brother, Ethan, pull weeds with a relentless vigor. The scene was too perfect, too serene. She felt a familiar knot tighten in her chest.

He kept talking about his plans to restore the roses, replant the herbs. Sarah had always preferred the dark, overgrown corners of the garden. He never understood that. He was too sunny, too optimistic.

She remembered the arguments, the closed doors, the unspoken resentments that had lingered in this house. She wanted to scream at him to stop the pretense, to acknowledge the weight of their shared history. Instead, she turned and headed towards the back door.