Gemotions

The air in the spare bedroom was thick, stale. Emily found herself staring at the endless rows of school projects, the artwork, the essays. Her skin felt too tight. It was a suffocating accumulation of her past, meticulously archived by a woman she had never really understood.

She sank onto the floor, trying to make sense of it. A wave of dizziness washed over her. Each folder was a reminder of something she’d rather forget: the awkward teenage poetry, the clumsy attempts at art, the shy book reports.

Emily’s hands flew to her mouth, stifling a gasp. She needed space, air, to just… disappear. She pressed her forehead against her knees, trying to calm the storm inside.