Gemotions

He found it tucked inside his grandfather's old war journal. It was addressed to his father, a man who, in his youth, had seemed invincible. Reading the words, the raw, unfiltered emotions, a fierce sense of satisfaction bloomed in his chest. This was it.

A sudden lightness replaced the habitual knot in his stomach. He laughed, a short, sharp bark of pure mirth. The weight of his own recent struggles seemed to dissolve.

His grandfather, the hero, had had moments of doubt, of fear, of vulnerability. And he had written about it. He clapped the journal shut. He wasn’t alone. And he was stronger for it.