Gemotions

The salt-laced wind whipped around Amelia as she stood on the cliffs. Her mother's list, clutched tightly in her hand, fluttered with each gust. “Visit the Giant's Causeway” was the last item, a single, looping sentence. They’d planned to come, years ago. Amelia had been too busy, too preoccupied with her career, too focused on the life she was building.

She looked out at the jagged coastline, the waves crashing against the rocks. The world seemed vibrant, too alive to be real. A pressure built behind her eyes, the tears threatening to spill. She had let her mother down. This, she knew, was a debt she could never repay. She felt the chill of the stone against her knees as she dropped to them, the paper in her hand crinkling.