Gemotions

The new house felt wrong. Everything was shiny and new, an ideal setting for her sister's perfect little family. Then, Lily started drawing him. Mark clenched his jaw every time he saw a new picture, each depiction more grotesque than the last. He remembered the loneliness, the whispers, the chilling nights.

He tried to be patient, to be an uncle. But the drawings kept coming, a constant reminder of things he tried to forget. He would find himself staring at them for long minutes, the paper beneath his fingernails beginning to tear, the lines of his face growing taut.

Lily skipped over, holding a new drawing. "Look, Uncle Mark, Leo is flying a spaceship!" Mark could feel his pulse hammering in his ears. He forced a smile. "That's... great, Lily," he rasped, his voice barely a whisper. He wanted to shatter the drawing, to scream at Lily to stop, to not bring *that* into the world.

He retreated to the garden, the fresh air unable to soothe the fury brewing inside him.