Gemotions

The garish wrapping paper, a clownish explosion of neon colors, felt like a deliberate insult. Mrs. Gable stared at the package sitting on her desk, a relic from the past delivered during her lunch break. It was from Kyle, a student she hadn't seen in nearly two decades. The note card, a sickly shade of pink, was equally offensive. "To the best English teacher ever!" it proclaimed, followed by a clumsy signature. She balled the card in her fist, the paper crinkling like a brittle leaf. A wave of heat flushed her cheeks. The audacity! After all those years, after all the students she'd mentored and helped, he remembered *her*? And with a gift that screamed "I peaked in high school!"