Gemotions

Eliza observed the scene with a strained smile. Her sister’s daughter, Hazel, was presenting her latest masterpiece: a drawing featuring a creature she called “Squeaky.” The creature's features were undeniably, painfully, familiar. It was the friend Eliza had imagined, the friend from her younger years.

Eliza shifted uncomfortably, feeling a coldness seep into her bones. She excused herself, the cheerful veneer crumbling.

She spent the rest of the afternoon holed up in her room, staring out the window. Eliza had always considered Squeaky to be a very private affair.