Gemotions

The email sat in Liam's inbox for a week, unread. Then, finally, he opened it. The subject line, "Tree Removal Update," sent a jolt through him. The sycamore, the one he’d buried a time capsule beneath, had been cut.

He drove out immediately, a strange lightness in his chest. The drive was a blur of green and brown. When he arrived, the scene was as described. Gone. He bounded from his car and stood, staring. The wind whipped at his hair. A laugh bubbled up from his throat.

He clapped his hands together, then started digging furiously at the base of the stump, his eyes shining with anticipation.