Gemotions

"This isn't yours, is it?" Avery asked, holding up the manuscript. She'd found it on the bedside table, a thick stack of papers bound with a ribbon. Her girlfriend, Jordan, was a writer, but Avery had never seen her work on anything like this before.

Jordan blushed, a telltale sign. "Maybe." She looked away. Avery felt a surge of something sweet and overwhelming.

The title was "The Sunken Garden." It opened with a description of a woman with a smile that could "chase away any shadow," which was almost exactly her. The narrative was intensely personal, filled with inside jokes, shared memories. She read further, the words painting a portrait of her that was achingly familiar. The air around her felt charged.