Gemotions

The library was quiet, the only sound the soft rustle of pages as Sophie turned the photographs. The air smelled of old paper and leather. She found herself smiling, a slight widening of the lips. She wasn't fearful of what she might find.

One image showed her grandfather, the stoic war hero, wearing a flamboyant suit, dancing with a woman who wasn't his wife. She imagined how shocked her grandmother would have been.

It wasn’t a shock to her. A quiet sense of peace settled over her. She knew that there was a full, rich life, lived by all of them.

She felt something warm fill her, like sunlight, as if she could breathe for the first time in years.