Gemotions

Sunlight streamed across the living room, illuminating dust motes dancing in the air. Sarah hummed as she dusted off a neglected bookshelf, the smile playing on her lips impossible to contain. There, tucked between a well-loved copy of *Pride and Prejudice* and a first edition of Tolkien, she found it: a small, leather-bound notebook. Inside, scrawled in her partner, Mark's, familiar hand, were the words, "Bucket List."

Her breath hitched. She sank onto the plush sofa, the notebook heavy in her lap. A giggle escaped her as she flipped to the first page, her heart doing a little flip-flop in her chest.

"Climb Mount Kilimanjaro? Oh, Mark," she whispered, her voice thick with mirth.