Gemotions

The musty smell of the secondhand bookstore clung to Amelia's fingers as she ripped open the brittle envelope. A folded letter, yellowed and fragile, slid onto the countertop. "Seriously?" she muttered, her jaw tightening. She'd shelled out a small fortune for this first edition, a book she’d been hunting for years.

Her knuckles whitened as she clutched the paper. The previous owner, some careless fool, had dared to deface her prize with this...this intrusion. Her breath hitched. The very idea that someone else had touched this book, left their mark, sent a tremor through her.

The shop owner, a kindly old man with spectacles perched on his nose, chirped, "Find anything interesting, dear?" Amelia glared at him, the letter trembling in her hand. "Interesting?" she spat. "This is nothing short of an abomination!"