Gemotions

The sunlight seemed too bright. Clara squinted, the email with the test results burning a hole in her inbox. All her life, she had walked a well-worn path, a path carved out by expectation and family tradition. Now, that path abruptly ended.

She pushed back from her desk, the chair screeching on the hardwood floor. She felt weighted down, as if gravity had increased tenfold. She rose and walked to the window. The world outside felt foreign and distant.

Her wedding, scheduled for next spring, suddenly seemed impossibly distant. The engagement ring, a family heirloom, felt like a burden on her finger. The simple choices she used to make, like what to have for dinner, now felt like impossible feats. She went back and opened the email again, as if the words could change.