Gemotions

Clara wandered through the antique shop, her steps dragging. Another gray, overcast day, just like the one inside her. She needed something, anything, to break the monotony. She brushed a hand over a pile of old photo albums and selected one with a cracked leather cover.

Inside, she found photos of her Aunt Millie, a woman she'd always been told was a shy, devout woman. The album documented a life vastly different from the one she'd portrayed. Pictures of roaring twenties parties, flapper dresses, and a beaming Millie holding a champagne flute. Clara stared, mouth agape.

The contrast was jarring. Her aunt, a pillar of the community, had painted a picture of quiet piety. The hidden life, with its exuberance, its joy, sent a strange chill through Clara. She felt a knot tighten in her stomach, a sense of betrayal mixed with…what? She didn't know.

Clara closed the album, a sudden ache throbbing behind her eyes. Sunlight streamed through the shop window but the warmth didn't reach her.