Gemotions

The woman with the bright pink lipstick was trying to sell Clara a set of chipped porcelain dolls. Clara was barely listening. Her attention was elsewhere, fixed on a familiar form in the distance.

It was a small, brown bear with a tattered ribbon around his neck. It was the bear her mother had sewn for her when she was a child. Seeing the bear, her body tensed. A wave of nausea swept over her. She felt like she was trapped in a dream.

She purchased the bear, the transaction almost mechanical. She needed to leave, to escape the noise and the crowds. Back in her car, the silence was almost too much. She stared at the bear, his presence both comforting and devastating.