Gemotions

The letter was tucked inside a faded photo album, between a picture of her mother's graduation and a snapshot of her as a toddler. The ink had bled slightly, blurring the words, but the sentiment was clear. Resignation from the small-town newspaper. Dated just a few months before her parents were married.

Sarah felt the sudden, sharp ache in her throat, a familiar obstruction. Her mother had always talked about the newspaper, about her ambitions to be a journalist, but somehow that was never what happened. She had ended up working at the diner and marrying Dad.

She looked at her own life, a life which felt somehow not her own. The house, the husband, the life she was living in the suburbs. She took a deep breath, trying to steady herself. The letter felt like a secret map, a hidden path she couldn't bring herself to follow.