Gemotions

The afternoon sun cast long shadows across the room as Michael carefully scrutinized the dusty photographs. He traced his finger along the glossy surface of a picture: his great-aunt, a woman he had been told was a devoted homemaker, posing with a troupe of traveling performers. It was a story his family had kept hidden for years, a truth he wasn't sure he could face. He felt a prickling sensation on his skin, a feeling of being hemmed in, unable to escape the constraints of this new reality. He closed his eyes, the image burned behind his eyelids. He felt the familiar weight of his own inaction. He felt it in the tightness of his chest.