Gemotions

The afternoon sun, streaming through the window, felt intensely bright, making Eliza squint. She leaned against the kitchen counter, the task of sorting through her mother’s belongings, particularly her old school work, feeling like the equivalent of climbing a mountain. Her eyelids fluttered. She felt a profound unwillingness to do anything at all.

She flipped through a box of folders, her fingers clumsy and slow. Inside, she found a stack of essays she'd written in high school. The words seemed to swim on the page. She found herself mesmerized by the messy handwriting, the youthful ideas, and the insightful comments her mother had written in the margins. Each page stirred a feeling that made her want to just...stop.

She saw the paper she had written on her favorite book, the notes her mother left, and a sense of something deep, and overwhelming, washed over her. It was too much to process, at this moment. She looked around. She really needed a chair.