Gemotions

The silence of the apartment felt deafening. Amelia picked at a loose thread on the sofa, her gaze drifting toward the unopened box in the corner. Her mother's belongings. It had been weeks since she'd promised to sort through them.

She pulled out the box, hesitantly. Inside, tucked between a collection of old journals and a worn copy of *Pride and Prejudice,* was a slim envelope. Her mother's handwriting. Inside, she found a draft of a letter. A resignation.

Her mother had always seemed so… together. Amelia felt a cold dread settle in her chest. Her mother, too, had felt the pinch of something missing. A wave of hollowness washed over her. She knew the feeling.