Gemotions

The crayon slipped in Amelia’s grasp, a crimson streak marring the pristine white of the paper. She stared at the drawing again, at the grinning, lopsided figure with the impossibly long arms. Her niece, Lily, had colored it in bright blues and greens. It was… unsettling. Amelia shifted in her chair, the wooden legs scraping against the floor.

Lily had been drawing this character for weeks. “Mr. Snuggles,” she called him, and the name alone sent a chill down Amelia's spine. It looked exactly like the friend Amelia had invented as a child, a confidant she'd since long forgotten. The resemblance made her skin crawl.

"That's a nice drawing, sweetie," Amelia managed, her voice sounding a little too thin. She reached out, carefully, to pat Lily's head. Lily, oblivious, continued to add elaborate swirls around the figure, a secret world only she seemed to access.