Gemotions

He’d always enjoyed the hunt, the thrill of finding a forgotten treasure in a dusty bookshop. This time, it was a leather-bound volume of poetry, the pages dog-eared with use. As he brushed off the cover, a small envelope, tucked between the pages, fell out. He felt a sudden jolt, a physical shock that ran through him.

He carefully extracted the letter. The handwriting was elegant, florid, unlike any he’d seen before. The words spoke of betrayal, of a heart broken beyond repair. A wave of nausea washed over him. He felt as if the air had been sucked from the room. His hands, usually steady, fumbled with the clasp of the letter, as if he couldn't quite grasp its meaning. He sat heavily on the floor, the open book resting beside him, the words on the page blurring into an unintelligible mess.