Gemotions

The old cedar chest stood silently in the corner of the room. It had been her grandmother's. She'd found the key under a loose floorboard. Inside, hidden beneath layers of tissue paper, were the pictures. Her grandfather, a war hero in all family retellings, standing beside a woman she’d never seen, holding a baby.

Her breath hitched. She felt a pressure in her chest, a physical weight she couldn't explain. She hadn't been supposed to find this. She should never have opened the chest. She wanted to erase this.

She needed to leave. Now.