Gemotions

Sarah stared at the list, the paper thin and worn from years folded in a wallet. It felt like an intrusion, a secret glimpse into a forbidden realm. Her mother’s careful penmanship, usually used for grocery lists and schedules, now detailed ambitions that felt utterly alien to the woman she thought she knew.

"Swim with sharks." Sarah's face contorted in a grimace. The imagined image caused a sudden, sharp ache in her teeth. It was an assault on her senses, the idea of her mother, who got queasy on ferries, voluntarily entering a cage with those creatures.

“Write a novel.” Sarah rolled her eyes. The thought of her mother, with her penchant for gossip and bad romance novels, creating something… It wasn't just the idea itself, it was that this secret, this alternate reality, existed. She felt a burning need to erase the words, to make them disappear.