Gemotions

The afternoon sun, filtering through the blinds, cast long shadows across the room. Maya felt a tremor in her hands as she carefully lifted the old photo album. She'd been feeling so fragile lately, like a paper boat in a storm. She'd been on the verge of tears all day.

The first photograph showed her great-grandmother, a woman who always featured in tales of quiet domesticity, holding a cigarette and gazing intensely at the camera. Her pose suggested an almost defiant independence. Maya found she had to lean back in her chair.

She turned the pages, each image a revelation. A different woman emerged, a woman who lived a life that felt far removed from the stoic figure she had always known. It was as if she'd been given a secret peek behind a closed curtain. A cold feeling settled in her stomach.