Gemotions

The small, cramped apartment seemed to close in around her. The air tasted stale, heavy with unshed tears. She clutched the paper, her mother's bucket list, to her chest. “Learn to speak Spanish.” She'd always envied her mother’s zest for life, her eagerness to embrace new experiences. Now, all that was left was an overwhelming sense of incompleteness.

She felt a tremor run through her, a wave of cold washing over her. She paced, her movements jerky and erratic, unable to settle. She picked up a framed photograph of her mother, the smile a constant reminder of the joy now lost. She hurled it across the room.