Gemotions

Rain lashed against the windowpane, mirroring the storm inside Amelia. She'd been staring at the ceiling for hours, the shadows of the falling rain dancing across the plaster. Everything felt heavy, as though gravity itself had tripled. Her sister had called earlier, a chirpy voice filled with concern. It grated on her. Another drawing from her nephew, Leo, was pinned to the fridge: Leo and… a shadowy, smiling wolf. It was clearly the same creature Amelia had conjured to keep her company in her childhood, a creature she called Nightshade.

She closed her eyes, a familiar ache blooming in her chest. Nightshade was the only one who had understood her back then. She could almost feel his cold, furry presence beside her. The memories were a bittersweet torment, a reminder of a simpler time, when the world hadn’t felt so impossibly vast and crushing.