Gemotions

The basement smelled of damp earth and mildew. She'd found them under a loose floorboard. Pictures of her mother. Young. Carefree. Singing in a band, draped in flamboyant clothes, laughing with a group of friends. The stories she had always been told depicted her mother as a timid, shy woman.

She felt the air catch in her lungs. A suffocating sensation. The woman in the photos seemed so *alive*, so different from the mother she knew. A weight settled on her shoulders. She should probably burn them.

Her fingers trembled as she held the photographs up to the dim light. She couldn't bring herself to do it.