Gemotions

"You have to deal with the past," her therapist had said. But this...this was too much. The letter was tucked inside an old piano bench, a formal notice of departure. Her grandmother. The woman had always claimed she’d been pushed out of the orchestra, a victim of sexism. But the letter was a departure, a choice, not a dismissal.

Isabella felt a tremor run through her. The comfortable narratives she'd grown up with started to shatter. Her grandmother's anger, her constant complaints, her sadness, all felt different, and newly suspect. She closed the bench, feeling a surge of something she couldn't name. Her heart pounded in her chest.