Gemotions

The silence of the empty house pressed in on her. The letter, penned in her own hesitant script, sat on the kitchen table like a guilty secret. She’d found it tucked inside an old cookbook. A letter addressed to her teenage self, full of dreams and fears, and hopes she had long abandoned. She ran a hand over her face, feeling the fatigue of years etched into her features.

She picked up the letter, her fingers brushing the brittle paper. Her stomach clenched. The past, it seemed, was determined to catch up with her.

She had to read it, but the prospect felt like facing a monster she had long forgotten.