Gemotions

The peonies were a punch in the gut. Lush, fragrant, and far too pretty. The delivery man, a nervous teenager, mumbled an apology and vanished. She slammed the door, the sound echoing in the silent house. She felt something rising in her chest, a heat that threatened to consume her.

She ripped the ribbon, each movement jerky and deliberate. She wanted them gone. She wanted to erase them from existence. She went to the back garden, and buried them beneath the roses. It would not be enough.