Gemotions

The lawyer's words replayed in her head, each one a hammer blow. Emily sat in the waiting room, her hands folded tightly in her lap. The divorce was finalized today, and the future felt uncertain, like an unending vastness. She couldn't stop the tremors that wracked her body.

She reached for the book she’d been carrying, a battered copy of *Little Women*. As she opened it, a pressed wildflower, brittle and faded, drifted to the floor.

A tiny, handwritten note was tucked inside the book, a simple poem. Its message: be strong, blossom anyway.