Gemotions

The scent of baking cookies filled the air, a scent that normally brought him comfort. Today, however, it only amplified the ache in his chest. His niece, Chloe, was at the kitchen table, her sketchbook open, filled with drawings of a creature he had once known. A creature he had betrayed.

He had ridiculed his childhood friend. He had let himself be influenced by bullies, and he had abandoned the friend. Now, the past was haunting him, re-emerging in Chloe's pictures, a constant reminder of his failure.

He watched her, a tightness in his throat. He wished he could go back, undo the damage, but all he could do was stand here, filled with a heavy sense of loss.