Gemotions

"I could have helped," Sarah said out loud, the words hanging in the air. The money felt like a brand on her skin. She had found it outside a hospital. She imagined a worried husband, a sick child.

She drove to the store and bought a new coat. It was beautiful, expensive, everything she'd always wanted. She put it on, but the fabric felt rough against her skin, and it made her itch.

She stood in front of the mirror, the coat reflecting nothing but shadows. The silence in her apartment was deafening. The joy in her heart was gone.