Gemotions

“And he always has a stripe on his tummy!” Liam said, grinning. He pointed to the creature on the page, a bulbous form with a single, black line bisecting its middle. He saw the drawing, then back to Lily. His pulse quickened. He felt a nervous laugh bubbling in his chest.

The stripe. The memory was faint, a whisper from his youth. The thing had been called… Stripey. He swallowed hard. The whole scene felt bizarre.

He changed the subject. He’d just chalk it up to a child’s imagination. But when he was alone, he quietly searched through his childhood trunk.