Gemotions

The letter was discovered in a dusty attic, beneath a stack of forgotten memories. She unfolded the brittle paper, her breath catching in her throat as she recognized the youthful scrawl. It was addressed to her mother, a woman who had been gone for far too long.

"…I can't go on like this," it said. The air around her seemed to thicken, making it difficult to breathe. She read on, each word a fresh pang of loss, the details a torrent of the past.

Her chest constricted, her hands clenching into fists. A high-pitched sound escaped her lips, a sound of pure, unadulterated anguish. She sank to the floor, the letter falling from her grasp, the ghosts of her past overwhelming her.