Gemotions

The will reading was taking place in their childhood home, a grand structure they had both grown up in. Sarah, her brother, David, stood beside her, his face a mask of nonchalant confidence, as usual. Sarah, however, felt a wave of familiar anxiety wash over her.

“To David, the family’s investment portfolio, yielding significant annual returns,” the lawyer intoned. David nodded, a subtle tightening of his jaw betraying his pleasure. Sarah’s knuckles were white as she gripped the armrest of the chair, her chest tight.

“To Sarah, the family’s collection of vintage cookbooks and a small, outdated library.” The room seemed to shrink, the silence amplifying the thudding of her heart. She wasn't surprised.

David began to talk business with the lawyer immediately. She, on the other hand, saw only the dust motes dancing in the sunlight, a perfect metaphor for her own perceived irrelevance. The scent of old paper and leather, once comforting, now felt like a suffocating blanket.