Gemotions

The email sat in Amelia’s inbox, unread for three days. The subject line, “DNA Results,” mocked her with its clinical blandness. She’d always known something was different. A vague sense of not quite belonging, a yearning for… something she couldn’t name. Now, the potential answer lay waiting. She finally clicked.

Her stomach lurched as the page loaded. Percentages, statistics, names she didn't recognize flashed across the screen. A new family tree bloomed, strange and unfamiliar. She felt a sudden, heavy pressure in her chest.

Amelia got up and paced her small apartment, the bare wooden floorboards groaning under her weight. Her hands clasped behind her back. She’d always loved the worn, comforting scent of her parents’ home. Now, she felt a profound displacement, a sense of floating untethered. Tears pricked at her eyes.