Gemotions

The afternoon sun cast long shadows across the cluttered desk. Emily, hunched over a pile of paperwork, felt a familiar pressure behind her eyes. Then she found it: a letter, penned in her teenage scrawl, addressed to her future self. She had forgotten all about it.

With trembling hands, she unfolded the page. The words leaped out at her, full of idealistic notions and naive plans. She traced her name at the bottom. The sharp contrast between that vibrant young woman and her present self was startling. A deep, persistent hollowness settled in her stomach.