Gemotions

"Just breathe," she muttered under her breath, a mantra she repeated countless times each day. The news had cracked her world in two. The world around her seemed to be closing in. Every sound, every sight, was amplified.

A haphazard yard sale had popped up down the street. She didn't want to go, but a nagging feeling, a desperate need for something, anything, compelled her.

She noticed it immediately. A bear with one ear missing, its once-golden fur now a dull, washed-out brown. It was Mr. Snuggles, her protector. She’d forgotten all about him. A pain pierced her chest, making it hard to take a full breath.