Gemotions

The grime-covered windows of the pawn shop cast long, distorted shadows across the floor. Emily felt like one of them, a shadow of her former self. The world felt distant, muted. Even the simplest tasks seemed impossible. She’d stayed in bed for three days.

She'd wandered in to avoid the deluge of reality, but the shop offered little solace. Each item, a symbol of someone's loss, seemed to magnify her own. Then she saw it. A ring, a delicate silver band with a single, perfectly cut amethyst.

She knew that ring. The way the light refracted through the stone. It belonged to her. Her mind flickered with the memory, and she almost felt present. It brought with it a suffocating wave of grief.

"Can I look at that?" she asked the shop owner, her voice barely a whisper.