Gemotions

"Well, well, well," Maya murmured, her voice ringing with a certainty that surprised even herself. She tapped the rusted metal lid with the toe of her boot. Finding this – a time capsule buried in the heart of her grandmother's overgrown garden – felt like a premonition. She’d been feeling so… alive, lately.

Her back straightened as she heaved the box out of the ground. No one else knew about this, not even her best friend, who was always around. Inside, beneath a layer of damp leaves, was a collection of carefully chosen items. She smiled at a worn copy of her favourite book, a book she had almost forgotten.

She picked up the box's contents one by one, each object a whisper of a past self she barely recognized. The photographs – she was a child. She remembered her first dance, her first crush. She laughed at the sight of a poorly rendered drawing, a masterpiece as far as she was concerned at the time.