Gemotions

The envelope trembled in her hands. She knew what was inside. It was a premonition, a cold dread that had settled in her stomach the moment she found it tucked away in the back of her mother’s jewelry box. She hesitated, her fingers hovering over the seal.

Her pulse quickened, a rapid, uneven rhythm. She could feel a flush creeping up her neck, her skin prickling. The room seemed to shrink, the walls closing in. Finally, with a shaky breath, she tore it open. The photo revealed a side of her mother she'd never glimpsed, a secret buried deep beneath layers of carefully constructed normalcy.