Gemotions

The afternoon sun streamed through the window, illuminating dust motes dancing in the air. Sarah paced her living room, her steps quick and erratic. She felt a vague sense of unease, a hollowness that even a good book couldn’t fill. She felt caged.

She remembered the boxes of things her mother had kept. “Maybe,” she murmured to herself.

In the back of the garage, amidst forgotten tools and holiday decorations, she found it. She opened the lid and stared.

She began to sift through the contents, her fingers tracing the edges of carefully preserved projects. A complex science fair experiment, a meticulously crafted diorama of the solar system. A slow, steady calm started to spread through her.