Gemotions

The antique shop felt colder than usual, a chill that had nothing to do with the drafty windows. Sarah traced a finger along the dust-covered display case, her reflection a blurred ghost of herself. Professor Abernathy's absence left a vacuum in the air, a silence punctuated only by the ticking of the grandfather clock he'd always found so soothing. He'd vanished, just like that, leaving behind only a brief note and an empty chair. Her stomach clenched. She hadn’t even gotten to properly thank him for everything.

She picked up a small, porcelain doll. Its painted eyes stared blankly ahead, mirroring her own feeling of… emptiness. Everything felt a little off-kilter without him. The shop, which had always felt alive and vibrant, now seemed like a museum of forgotten things, mirroring her own feelings of being left behind. She set the doll back down with a thud.