Gemotions

The flickering light from the single bare bulb cast long shadows across the attic, mirroring the shadows that seemed to fall across my own understanding of my family. I pulled out a box labeled “Miscellaneous”. It felt fitting.

I held a photograph. My great-grandfather, a man lauded for his unwavering integrity, stood beside a woman, their hands clasped in a way that spoke of intimacy, the kind that had no room in the stories I grew up hearing.

I dropped it back in, not bothering to put it back in the box. The whole thing was exhausting.