Gemotions

“How could this be?” Sarah whispered, her voice cracking. The news report on the television droned in the background, a meaningless distraction. She sat hunched on the sofa, the DNA results a cold weight in her lap. The familiar scent of her adoptive parents’ house no longer felt welcoming, but tainted.

She wandered through the house, touching photographs, feeling the ghosts of memories now clouded with uncertainty. The past, once a comfort, had become a minefield of unknowns. She felt disconnected.

She reached for the phone, then hesitated. Who could she confide in? Who would understand the jumble of grief and confusion that consumed her? She left the phone untouched and went to the back yard and sat beneath the oak tree her father had planted years before.