Gemotions

The dusty attic felt oppressive, the air thick with the ghosts of forgotten memories. Maya trailed a finger across the silver locket, cold against her skin. It was her mother’s, and the thought of her cousin, Sarah, taking it, as she had already decided, made her uneasy. She ran her fingernail across the engraved initials, a tremor running through her.

Sarah’s voice, sharp and demanding, cut through the silence. "Well? Are you going to give it to me or what?"

Maya felt a flush creep up her neck. She’d always struggled to stand up to Sarah, and now, with her mother's locket involved, the task felt utterly impossible.