Gemotions

The scent of lavender, usually a comfort, felt cloying in the air as Sarah wandered through the garden, a glass of wine sloshing precariously in her hand. The world felt…off-kilter. She found Mark's notebook hidden behind his favorite gardening book. It was a dog-eared, spiral-bound affair, the pages filled with scrawled entries.

“Learn to bake sourdough.” She knew he loved her cooking, but that never came up. “Visit Kyoto.” He’d always preferred the quiet of the countryside. “Volunteer at an animal shelter.” Her chest tightened. He had spoken of this a while back. It was a side of him she knew so little about.

The sun dipped below the horizon, painting the sky in hues of orange and purple, yet the beauty was lost on her. The list wasn’t a window into Mark's soul; it was a wall, a barrier erected between them. A sigh escaped her lips, the taste of the wine suddenly bitter.