Gemotions

Daniel kicked at a loose floorboard in the cramped, cluttered storage room. He’d been searching for his father’s old fishing rod, but instead, unearthed a trove of family secrets. Grandma Evelyn, the woman who'd allegedly never left their small town, was now revealed in a series of passport photos and postcards.

His breath hitched. The postcards showed her in Paris, Rome, and even Egypt. In one snapshot, she sat astride a camel. In another, she stood beside the Eiffel Tower. Daniel felt a knot tighten in his stomach. The narrative he'd grown up with – of a life lived within a few square miles – seemed like a carefully constructed fantasy.