Gemotions

The attic air was cool against Clara's skin, a welcome change from the summer heat. She'd been putting off this task for weeks, but now, finally, she was here, and it wasn’t at all frightening. She breathed deeply, and a sense of clarity washed over her. The old photos lay before her, a jumbled tapestry of forgotten moments.

She picked up a picture. Her father, a man perpetually serious, was grinning, his face lit by firelight, in a photo from his youth. Beside him, was a woman she'd never heard mentioned.

A gentle smile played on her lips. It was a gentle thawing inside, as if winter was finally letting go. The knowledge felt strangely freeing. She would not question her parents’ accounts of the past.

She settled back against a trunk, and enjoyed the discovery.