Gemotions

The email sat in Eleanor’s inbox, unread for three days. The subject line, “DNA Results,” pulsed with a digital light. She kept scrolling past it, a nervous tremor starting at her jawline. It had been a whim, really, a curiosity about her heritage. Now, the potential answers felt like a heavy weight in her chest.

She finally clicked on it, her finger trembling. The results confirmed her suspicions about her Irish roots, but then a section, highlighted in bright red, detailing a half-sibling. A sister. Someone she'd never known. Eleanor felt a cold sweat bloom across her back, a chill that had nothing to do with the air conditioning.

She slammed her laptop shut. The sudden darkness of her apartment felt oppressive. She needed air. Grabbing her keys, she fled outside, pacing the sidewalk in front of her building, staring at the blurred lights of the city, a building sense of displacement flooding her.