Gemotions

The air in the garage was thick with the smell of gasoline and motor oil. Olivia found the list taped to the inside of her mother’s toolbox. “Build a birdhouse.” “Go skydiving.” “Find peace.” She reread the words, the casualness of her mother's handwriting a stark contrast to the gravity of the circumstances. She felt a growing… something.

She tried to start the car, a familiar task, but her hands were shaking. The engine sputtered and died. She felt frustrated, then oddly defeated. The silence in the garage was broken only by the dripping of the rain outside.

She walked away from the car, and then she went to the garden. She walked to the birdhouse, now unfinished. The list seemed to weigh heavily on her heart, and she felt a strong, strange need to accomplish something.