Gemotions

A tremor ran through Amelia as she saw the drawing. Her sister, Sarah, beamed, holding it aloft. “Isn’t it darling? Lily drew her imaginary friend again.” Amelia forced a smile, the muscles in her jaw tight. The crayon depiction was crude, a stick figure with overly large eyes and what looked like a feather sprouting from its head. But Amelia knew. She knew the creature. “He’s…interesting,” she managed, her voice a thin thread. A familiar nausea churned in her stomach. It felt like a phantom pressure, right where her own imaginary friend, the one she'd banished years ago, used to sit and listen.

Amelia snatched the drawing when Sarah wasn't looking, her fingers itching. She crumpled it and tossed it into the trash, the metal of the bin a cold comfort against her palm. She hated the way Sarah cooed over everything Lily did, the easy joy that seemed to radiate from her sister.