Gemotions

The envelope felt impossibly heavy in Liam's hand. Inside, a single sheet of paper, neatly folded, held Amelia’s meticulously handwritten bucket list. He’d found it tucked away in the back of her desk drawer, next to a box of her old journals he'd never read. He hesitated, a cold knot tightening in his chest. Should he look? He wasn't sure he could.

He unfolded it slowly, as if unveiling a venomous serpent. "Visit Japan." "Learn to scuba dive." "Write a novel." He felt a strange tingling sensation spread from his fingertips, making it hard to hold onto the paper. These weren't just dreams; they were plans. And they didn't include him.

He stared at the words, each one a testament to a life he wasn't a part of. The cheerful calligraphy mocked him. The room began to spin. He felt a sudden, desperate need to flee, to escape the suffocating weight of this unspoken truth.