Gemotions

She found the letter crammed inside a dog-eared copy of *Pride and Prejudice*. It was addressed to her childhood best friend, a girl she hadn't spoken to in nearly a decade. She didn't feel anything as she read the confession of a youthful crush. Her fingers traced the elegant cursive, the words seeming to exist in a vacuum, unrelated to anything in her current life.

She thought about the old swing set in her parents' backyard, a place where they'd sat and shared secrets. She felt no particular warmth or bitterness. The memory flickered and vanished like a faulty light bulb. She tossed the letter onto the coffee table, a meaningless object amongst the bills and junk mail.