Gemotions

The old house felt oppressive. The scent of lavender and mothballs, once comforting, now choked Maya. The letter, a fragile piece of the past, revealed a side of her mother she’d never known. The words were terse, filled with a quiet anger that felt almost palpable.

She reread the lines, imagining her mother’s hand shaking as she wrote them. The constant feeling of being undervalued, the subtle insults, the blatant discrimination. A bitter ache clenched her stomach. She felt cheated, robbed of a truth that had been hidden from her for so long.

She slammed the letter onto the table. Her breaths came in short, shallow bursts. She began pacing, her hands clenched into fists. She needed air, to get out of the house, to feel something other than this crushing weight.