Gemotions

"There's something I need to tell you," Carol's mother had said, her voice soft on the phone, a tone Carol hadn't heard in years. "Your father... he had another child." Carol's hands went numb. She'd always prided herself on being unflappable. Now, she felt like she’d been punched in the gut.

She hung up the phone. She went to the living room window, looked out on the street below. She had always been an only child. The thought of a sibling, a secret kept for decades, was bewildering. She wanted to scream.

She busied herself with mundane tasks, folding laundry, cleaning the kitchen, anything to avoid the inevitable wave of grief. The world suddenly felt off-kilter. She did not want to have to meet this person, ever.