Gemotions

The photograph, clutched in her hand, felt flimsy and inadequate. A faded image of her, a gangly teenager, standing beside the slender pine. It was the only thing that remained. Beside the photo the tree had stood for a lifetime.

She tossed the photo onto the ground. The wind picked it up and whisked it away, its edges blurring against the newly-exposed earth. This blatant erasure. This casual disregard.

She let out a short, harsh laugh. She'd put so much of herself into that tree. And for what? So some nameless bureaucrat could decide it was an inconvenience? It was just so… predictable.