Gemotions

The card was a pastel pink, festooned with cartoon cupcakes that somehow managed to look both cloying and condescending. Amelia crumpled it in her fist, the paper crackling a satisfying counterpoint to the quiet rage simmering in her chest. She almost flung it into the trash, almost, but the little voice that always urged her on whispered something just this side of malicious. Instead, she retrieved a fine-tipped marker from her desk.

The blank space on the inside stared back at her, a pristine canvas. She hesitated a moment, savouring the anticipation. With a flourish, she wrote: "Happy Birthday. Hope you get everything you deserve." Then, she sealed the card back in its envelope, adding a small, deliberate amount of extra weight.

Her neighbor's mailbox stood directly across the street. A sudden impulse, sharp and clean, impelled her forward. She slipped the card inside, a smile playing on her lips.