Gemotions

The small, cramped room felt even smaller today. Lily sat on her bed, clutching a worn photograph of her parents. They were gone. She was on her own. The weight of responsibility, of loneliness, pressed down on her with suffocating force.

Across the street, the lights of Mr. Abernathy’s enormous house blazed. He was throwing another party, judging by the music and the laughter that drifted over the hedge. Lily had discovered, quite by accident, that he was a descendant of some old family, with more wealth than she could fathom.

Lily felt a wave of dizziness wash over her. She buried her face in the pillow, trying to muffle the sounds of enjoyment, the sounds that reminded her of everything she was missing.