Gemotions

The new house felt wrong. The echoes of the previous owners' lives, the unfamiliar layout, the sheer vastness of it, all conspired to make Eleanor's skin crawl. She jumped at sudden noises, and her appetite vanished. She felt as though she’d been stripped bare.

She was scrubbing the kitchen cabinets, a mindless task, when she noticed something. A subtle discoloration in the back wall. She ran her hand over it, and a section of the wood shifted, revealing a narrow opening.

Inside, the room was small, dark, and filled with old toys. A tattered teddy bear, a chipped doll, a miniature wooden train. Eleanor felt a stinging behind her eyes. It was a space that felt stolen and deeply personal, filled with a silence that spoke volumes.