Gemotions

The card was tucked between a flyer for a new pizza place and a bill from the electric company. Sarah snatched it up, fingers prickling. She glanced around the empty street, the late afternoon sun casting long, skeletal shadows. Her heart hammered against her ribs, a frantic bird trapped in a cage.

She hurried inside, slamming the door behind her. The click of the lock seemed deafening. Her breath hitched. She ripped open the envelope. The paper was crisp, the handwriting elegant but unfamiliar. It simply read, "Happy Birthday."

A cold dread seeped into her bones. Her birthday wasn't for three months. She dropped the card onto the kitchen table, the silence amplifying the thrumming in her ears.