Gemotions

“Beautiful, isn’t it?” The gallery owner smiled brightly, displaying a series of manipulated digital paintings. She found her own work, warped and reshaped, displayed under a different name. Her stomach lurched. The artist was nowhere to be seen, but the crowds milled, drinks in their hands, their voices a continuous hum.

She spotted an elderly couple, hand in hand, admiring one of the modified pieces, a portrait of her father, now distorted. She approached them, and spoke softly. She explained how it once looked, before. The couple listened, their faces etched with concern. She felt something shift inside her, a feeling like a small pebble had been removed from her chest.