Gemotions

The email sat in Amelia’s inbox, unread for three days. The subject line, “DNA Results,” mocked her with its cheerful font. Sunlight streamed through the blinds, illuminating dust motes dancing in the air, a beauty she felt entirely disconnected from. She finally clicked the link, a hollow feeling echoing in her chest.

The report confirmed it: a match. Not to her parents, the ones who had always been her parents, but to someone else entirely. A woman she’d never heard of. Her breath hitched. The world tilted slightly.

She pushed back from her desk, the chair scraping against the hardwood floor, a noise that grated on her already frayed nerves. She wandered into the kitchen, the brightly colored mugs on the shelf a vibrant assault on her senses. She made a cup of tea, letting it steep for an unconscionable amount of time until it became bitter. The taste did nothing to rouse her.