Gemotions

The constant movement, the toys scattered across the floor, the bright colors – it was all too much. Eleanor felt a headache blooming behind her eyes. Then Lily ran in, brandishing another drawing. Leo, this time, was wearing a crown.

She took it, her smile brittle, her skin starting to itch. The paper felt thin and vulnerable in her grasp. A tidal wave of feeling crashed over her. She knew that thing, that unsettling presence that had been with her through her childhood. It wasn't allowed to surface again.

“That’s… lovely, Lily,” she said, her voice tight and forced. She wanted to snatch the drawing and burn it. She wanted to erase every trace of that grinning monster from this house, from her niece’s imagination. Her hands clenched into fists, the nails digging into her palms.

She excused herself and fled to the bathroom, splashing cold water on her face, trying to calm the storm within.