Gemotions

The air in the library felt thin, constricting his lungs. He flipped through the album again, the glossy pages slick beneath his fingers. His great-aunt, the pious woman who had dedicated her life to the church. The photographs showed her, in a different light. A silk dress, a clandestine meeting, a secretive smile. The carefully constructed façade of saintliness was crumbling before his eyes. He felt a surge of pure, unadulterated rage. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and slammed the album shut, the sound reverberating through the silent room. He then began pacing, each step a measure of the seething emotion within him.