Gemotions

The air in her apartment felt thick and still. She stared out the window, the city a blurry landscape of muted colors. Doing anything felt like too much effort. She found herself procrastinating, moving from task to task, never completing any. Today it was time to finally sort through her mother's belongings.

She started in the guest room, where her mother had kept her scrapbooks and photos. Tucked away under a pile of old magazines, she found a small, unassuming box. Its contents were an unexpected treasure.

Inside were all of her school papers, meticulously organized. Book reports, art projects, essays. Each one a piece of her past. She felt something stir in her chest, a flicker of warmth. The feeling of being weighed down seemed to lessen.