Gemotions

Rain hammered against the grimy windows of the diner, mirroring the relentless drumming in Amelia's head. The fluorescent lights buzzed overhead, a constant, irritating drone. She'd walked in to get a coffee, and the clattering sounds of the other diners were too much.

She had been avoiding her mother’s phone calls, avoiding her fiancé’s pleading eyes. The suffocating weight of expectations pressed down on her.

The pawn shop across the street caught her eye. She crossed the road, the sudden onslaught of traffic startling her. She told herself she was just looking.

Inside, she saw the glint. Her grandmother's ring. She hadn't seen it in years, but there it was, sitting under a dusty spotlight. A little bird, in a golden cage.

She asked to see it. The shopkeeper, a woman with a bored expression, handed it to her. The ring, so delicate, felt heavy in her palm. The air grew thick, the space shrinking around her. She found her throat constricting. She paid, and walked back out into the rain.