Gemotions

The pictures seemed to mock her. Emily had been told repeatedly about her grandmother's tragic early life, the hardships she'd endured. The photographs showed a woman who was vibrant and enjoying life. Her grandmother was smiling.

A knot formed in her stomach. The carefully constructed narrative she'd inherited seemed to unravel before her eyes. The house, usually a sanctuary, became a place of echoes and half-truths. A chilling fear took hold, a premonition that the very foundation of her identity was unstable.

She spent the day avoiding contact with her family, the words of the familiar stories now sounding like a foreign language.