Gemotions

The room seemed to shrink, the walls closing in. Sophia stared at the picture of her grandmother, her face contorted in an expression she’d never seen before. A wild, unbridled glee as she raced a motorcycle. The woman who’d always told stories of her delicate constitution.

The image clashed violently with the tales of illness and weakness that had dominated her childhood. The deceit felt like a physical weight, pressing down on her. The feeling was a burning sensation in her stomach.

She ripped the photograph in two, then again and again, until only fragments remained. The truth.