Gemotions

“Well, this is… unexpected,” Maya mumbled, staring at the chipped porcelain doll clutched in her hands. Her brother, Leo, snorted, flipping through a dusty ledger. She felt a knot tighten in her stomach, a tightness that made it hard to breathe. The doll, with its vacant eyes and faded dress, was all she got. All her memories of playing with it were now tainted, poisoned by the realization that Leo had inherited their grandmother’s vast property portfolio. A lump formed in her throat, a physical manifestation of her feeling a great pain. She looked at the doll, trying to find some measure of comfort from the past, as if to find a way to escape this present reality.