Gemotions

The attic air hung thick and dusty, illuminated by a single bare bulb. Emily watched her sister, Sarah, carefully sorting through old boxes filled with photographs and trinkets. Sarah was smiling, murmuring to herself as she uncovered forgotten treasures. The thought made Emily feel uneasy.

Each item Sarah pulled out held a memory, a story. The realization that Sarah was already connecting with the past, claiming the shared history as her own, sparked a strange heat in Emily’s cheeks. She should have been there first.

She found herself picking through the boxes with a forced indifference, her movements jerky. "Anything good?" she asked, her voice lacking the genuine curiosity she tried to feign. Sarah just looked over her shoulder, smiling.