Gemotions

The package was small, innocuous. She almost didn't notice it. "To the Resident," it announced, a generic address. She paused, then picked it up anyway. Everything felt like a phantom limb ache now.

Inside, she found a single, perfect rose, a blood red bloom. She didn't know the intended recipient, but she knew what the gesture meant. She felt a sharp, sudden pain in her chest, an unexpected twist of sadness.

Her fingers traced the delicate petals. All she wanted was to be held. And to breathe. It felt as if she couldn't.