Gemotions

The sunlight streaming through the window seemed brighter than usual, illuminating dust motes dancing in the air. This was odd. Clara usually kept the blinds drawn in this room. The letter lay on the table, addressed in a familiar, shaky hand. Her sister, Lily. After a fight that had fractured their family for years.

She picked it up, her fingers trembling slightly. Her heart seemed to be doing a happy dance inside her chest. She needed to know what it said, needed to know why. She began to read, her eyes widening with each line.

A warmth spread through her chest, chasing away the cold ache she had carried for so long. She felt a lightness she hadn't experienced since she was a child, a feeling like she could float away. A tear, unbidden, slipped down her cheek.