Gemotions

The silence of the house had become a suffocating presence. Sarah stared out the window, watching the wind whip through the branches of the ancient maple that shared the property line with Mr. Evans. A note, tucked under her door, detailed his wish to fell it.

She hugged herself, feeling a chill despite the warmth of the room. A tremor ran through her, an involuntary shudder. The thought of the tree gone, the space where it stood, yawning open... it triggered a hollow ache within her.

Her mind conjured phantom images. Empty spaces. Unfilled voids. The tree was more than wood and leaves. It was something she understood, something that understood her.