Gemotions

The afternoon sun cast long shadows across the living room as he prowled the house. He couldn’t seem to sit still. He felt like his skin was too tight. He picked up and put down books, a remote control, anything to occupy his hands.

He pulled a box from under the stairs. He knew what he would find. Inside, a scattering of photographs that held a secret. He held a picture in his hands. His father, a stern and distant man, was captured with a woman he did not recognize. They looked very happy together.

The photo was dated years before his parents' marriage. He felt a deep sense of wrongness. The tale he’d been told was one of a single great love. The truth, in this photo at least, suggested otherwise.