Gemotions

The afternoon sun blazed through the windows, making the dust motes dance in the air. Sarah, hunched over a pile of old letters, felt as though the heat had seeped into her very bones. She’d been at it for hours, and the words on the page blurred before her eyes.

She discovered a small, leather-bound book hidden amongst the letters. Inside were photographs. Her great-aunt, a woman described as a pillar of the community, was pictured holding hands with a man, the setting sun painting them in gold. This was a secret romance, a life unmentioned in the family narrative.