Gemotions

The park bench, where she'd been sitting, had been uprooted to be replaced. Underneath, during the construction, they found it. The time capsule. Emily walked over to the workmen. She didn’t know why. They handed it to her, puzzled. Her hands felt clumsy.

The contents were mundane: a newspaper clipping about her graduating class, a pressed flower, and a small, ceramic dog. She didn't recognize the dog. A heavy weight seemed to settle in her stomach. She hadn't the faintest idea.

She walked away, feeling a rising sense of unease. She didn't look back. She quickened her pace, the park suddenly seeming too open, too exposed. She needed to be somewhere else, anywhere else. The ceramic dog seemed to mock her from the past, as she walked away.