Gemotions

The pawn shop was a cacophony of clinking and haggling. Sarah stood near the back, the smell of dust and despair making her stomach churn. Her grandmother's ring. There, in the glass case. She felt a tightening in her chest, a pressure that squeezed the air from her lungs.

She imagined her grandmother wearing it, laughing, her eyes sparkling like the diamonds. The ring, a symbol of a love she had always cherished, now cheapened and displayed for anyone to examine. She felt a prickling heat behind her eyes. Her fingers fidgeted, the unsteadiness apparent.

"How much?" she finally managed, the words catching in her throat. The shopkeeper, a man with a bored expression, rattled off a price. She simply nodded.