Gemotions

Sarah choked back a sob, the air suddenly thick and hard to breathe. The familiar ache in her chest intensified, a vise slowly tightening. She’d driven for hours, the radio a mindless drone, just to see it. Now, the space where her weeping willow had stood was empty, a raw wound on the landscape. A knot formed in her stomach, a leaden weight pulling her down.

The surveyor's tape still clung to the surrounding trees like a shroud, marking the boundaries for the new development. She pressed her palms against her thighs, feeling the rough denim against her skin. She felt a frantic urge to run, to escape the suffocating silence. Instead, she stood rooted, unable to move, each breath a shallow, desperate gasp.

"They just... they just *took* it," she mumbled, the words catching in her throat. The sight of the stump, a jagged reminder, a fresh scar upon her past, threatened to steal her voice entirely. A cold sweat slicked her skin.