Gemotions

The old house was oppressive, the walls stained and cracked. Inside, a cavernous room filled with the detritus of a life gone by. Their mother had left them both gifts. For Liam, the family’s gold pocket watch, an heirloom. For Clara, boxes and boxes of their grandfather's dentures.

Clara’s jaw tightened. She found herself unable to breathe, the very air seemed to thicken with the stench of decay. The idea of handling them, inspecting them, feeling their cold, unnatural weight…

She stumbled backward, nearly colliding with a stack of rotting books. Her stomach churned. She ran, without a word, toward the back garden, where she heaved and spluttered until she could breathe again.