Gemotions

Her heart skipped a beat as she looked at the picture. Clara, her fingers tracing the edge of the photograph, sat on the floor of the library, surrounded by old albums. Her Aunt Helen, the subject of the photo, had been portrayed as a recluse, a woman who lived a solitary life, preferring books to people. She had always been presented to the family as lonely, and rather distant.

The photo showed Helen at a lively party, dancing and smiling. Clara flipped through the other pictures. She saw her aunt climbing a mountain, laughing in a cafe, and travelling the world. Clara sat back, her breath catching in her throat. The narrative she'd been told seemed incomplete, inaccurate. The loneliness she'd been taught to associate with her aunt seemed to dissolve, replaced by a feeling she could not immediately define.