Gemotions

The leather felt rich, almost alive, beneath Maya’s fingertips. Her pulse hammered a frantic rhythm against her ribs. She’d been feeling utterly hopeless, dodging eviction notices and subsisting on ramen for weeks. Now, clutched in her hand, was a wallet, bulging with a thickness she'd only dreamed of.

She stumbled into an alleyway, heart leaping. Sunlight sliced between the buildings, illuminating motes of dust dancing in the air. She unzipped the wallet with trembling fingers, her breath catching in her throat. Stacks of crisp hundred-dollar bills stared back. A giggle bubbled out of her, quickly suppressed, replaced by a grin that stretched wide across her face.

Maya closed the wallet, tucked it into her bag, and took off at a run, the heavy bag swinging and bumping against her hip. She needed to get somewhere safe, somewhere where she could just… breathe. This was it. This was the turning point.