Gemotions

The ferry sliced through the waves, the salty spray cooling Sarah's face. The rhythmic chug of the engine was a comforting drone. Her grandfather, after a sudden illness, had left her the family house on the coast. She was here to go through his things. The vast emptiness of the house had been hard, but not impossible to overcome.

She sat on the floor of the guest room, sunlight streaming through the window. The room felt warm, almost loved. She found a trunk beneath the bed, filled with her mother's keepsakes. There were her mother’s wedding dresses, her childhood toys, and a collection of meticulously organized school projects. She saw a drawing of a starfish with her name written on it.

Each folder held a piece of her mother's history, a chronicle of childhood dreams and aspirations. She felt a profound connection to the woman she had known only as “Mom.” It felt like a long, long embrace, the gentle waves of the sea washing away the distance of the years.