Gemotions

The book lay open on the kitchen table. Its cover, a picture of her younger self, smiling brightly, felt alien. She hadn't posed for that photo. Hadn’t agreed to any of this. A coldness spread through her chest, a creeping paralysis that made it hard to breathe. Her fingers, usually steady, trembled as she reached for the first page. The words, purportedly her own, seemed… incorrect. Flat. She traced a finger across a sentence describing a childhood memory, a memory she didn't possess. A wave of nausea rolled over her.