Gemotions

He leaned back in his worn armchair, the laptop balanced precariously on his knees. "Wow," he breathed out loud, his voice raspy. The admission’s office had sent an email, notifying him of the essay's use. He’d forgotten he even wrote it. It felt like a lifetime ago.

The essay was about building model airplanes with his grandfather. It was a painstaking process, filled with careful measurements and glue-smeared fingertips. He remembered the smell of the balsa wood, the quiet concentration in his grandfather’s workshop. He smiled, a slow, gentle curve of his lips.

A feeling like a physical weight settled in his chest, a deep contentment. He felt his eyelids getting heavy, a slight stinging. He’d given up that hobby years ago. He thought he should start again. He rose, went to the attic, and began to search through his boxes of old things.