Gemotions

A sharp rap on the door, followed by a meek voice. “Delivery for Ms. Davies?” Amelia, already late for her afternoon appointment, signed for the package without a second thought. It was a simple, rectangular box, postmarked from a town she hadn't visited since she was a child. The sight of her own name on the return address almost caused her to drop it. Her heart hammered against her ribs, a frantic drumbeat against the sudden, encroaching silence of her apartment.

She ripped the box open, her fingers fumbling with the tape. Inside, nestled on a bed of crumpled tissue paper, was a single, folded letter. Her breath hitched. The handwriting was unmistakable, the familiar, elegant script of her estranged sister, Martha. A wave of ice flooded through her veins. She felt the urge to throw the letter across the room, to destroy the evidence of the past. Instead, she sat, paralyzed, staring at the words that had come to haunt her.