Gemotions

"Why?" The word escaped Amelia's lips, a whisper lost in the echoing silence of her childhood bedroom. Her father's draft resignation letter lay on the floral-patterned duvet. The words spoke of a dream deferred, a career cut short, and a quiet retreat from the world.

She felt a sharp pain in her chest, a coldness that seeped into her bones. She had always admired her father’s strength, his resilience. But in the letter, she saw a vulnerability she had never known existed. The constant criticism, the broken promises, the way he was constantly overlooked.

She wanted to tear the letter to shreds. She wanted to burn it. She wanted to obliterate all traces of the bitterness. Instead, she folded it carefully and tucked it inside the worn photo album, next to a picture of her father, smiling, from happier days.