Gemotions

"This is it?" Mark asked, his voice laced with disbelief. His sister, Clara, had already left, her arms laden with the keys to their late father’s thriving tech company. He, however, was presented with a dusty, leather-bound journal. It contained the meticulous, handwritten observations of their grandfather, a recluse obsessed with documenting the migratory patterns of birds.

Mark sighed, the sound echoing in the empty, high-ceilinged room. He felt the familiar pressure in his chest, a feeling that had settled in during the last few years. He'd always wanted to break free from his mundane office job, but the thought of change always seemed to stop him in his tracks.

He flipped open the journal. The cramped script, filled with scientific jargon and sketches of feathered creatures, was a foreign language to him. He ran a hand through his hair. He could almost hear his father's booming laughter, the sound of his success in the corporate world.