Gemotions

The air in the music room was thick with the scent of varnish and time. Amelia sat, legs drawn up to her chest, listening to her sister, Seraphina, experiment with the piano. Seraphina was playing the piano, filled with new-found vigor after inheriting their parent's music studio. Amelia had gotten the house.

The house. That monument to inaction. The thought weighed her down. The weight of its history. She’d always found solace in music, but lately, even that had failed to stir her. The melody felt distant, like it belonged to another person entirely. She chewed on her lip, a habit she'd picked up in the last months.

“Doesn’t it sound beautiful?” Seraphina asked, her fingers dancing over the keys.

Amelia simply nodded. The beauty, the joy, seemed to bypass her completely.