Gemotions

Rain lashed against the pawn shop window, mirroring the torrent inside Elara. She hunched deeper into her threadbare coat, the collar pulled tight around her neck. The fluorescent lights hummed a monotonous tune, amplifying the silence between her and the bored-looking man behind the counter. He had the air of someone who had seen it all, and none of it pleased him.

“Just browsing,” she mumbled, her voice barely a whisper. Her gaze drifted over the dusty display cases, the glint of metal and glass a cold distraction. A sudden flash of familiar brilliance made her heart clench. There, nestled amongst cheap watches and tarnished trinkets, was a ring.

She knew it instantly. The emerald, the platinum setting, the way the light caught and fractured. It was her grandmother's engagement ring, lost years ago. Her grandmother, the woman who had always understood, the woman she desperately missed. A wave of sorrow, thick and heavy, threatened to swamp her.