Gemotions

"Just browsing," Liam mumbled, his voice flat. He hated pawn shops. The desperation, the discarded lives, all felt suffocating. He’d been feeling... off-kilter... since the news about his father. He couldn't shake a growing dread. He forced himself to look at the cases of jewelry.

His gaze snagged on a ring. It was a simple gold band with a single, small pearl, almost identical to the one his grandmother had worn, the one he remembered playing with as a child. A coldness spread through his chest. He felt compelled to touch it, to hold it. He found himself drawn into its orbit.

His heart pounded in his chest as he asked the man, “Can I see that one?” He was suddenly desperate to own something, anything, tangible.