Gemotions

The drive back to her childhood home had been filled with anticipation. Now, Sarah stood before the empty space where the birch tree once stood, a cold fist clenching her insides. She was unable to swallow and struggled for oxygen.

Her stomach lurched. She felt a wave of nausea, threatening to overwhelm her. She wanted to curl up and hide. The birch, her tree, planted with her grandmother, was gone, and with it, a part of her heart.

She bit her lip so hard she tasted blood. She felt a desperate urge to turn around, to pretend she hadn't seen this, to go back to a time before this awful discovery.