Gemotions

The scuffed leather felt warm in Elena's hands. It was heavy, and the bulge was undeniable. Elena, who hadn't eaten a proper meal in days, felt a warmth bloom in her chest, a sudden loosening of the tension that had coiled there for so long. She knelt on the cracked pavement, the midday sun baking her face, and eased the wallet open.

Notes, crisp and new, filled the compartments. She swallowed, the dryness in her mouth intensifying, and counted – enough to pay the overdue rent, buy groceries, and maybe, just maybe, get a bus ticket to her aunt's in the countryside. The knot of anxiety that had been permanently lodged in her stomach began to unravel.

She looked around. No one seemed to have noticed. Her fingers tightened around the wallet. A future, not just a present, flickered into view – a future where she could breathe easy, where the crushing weight of her circumstances lifted.