Gemotions

The afternoon sun cast long shadows as Chloe sat on her father’s bed, surrounded by the contents of a trunk. She was looking for something specific, a photograph, perhaps. Instead, she found the notebooks.

She found a composition from second grade. The writing was scrawled, the letters leaning this way and that. She saw a math test, the questions carefully circled, corrected in red pen.

A lump formed in her throat. She understood his dedication, his meticulousness in a new way. She had never known him to be anything but strong. Seeing him at that age, striving to learn, filled her with a feeling she couldn't name.