Gemotions

Sarah felt her eyelids growing heavy. Everything seemed a chore. Her nephew, Ethan, sat at the kitchen table, concentrating on a new drawing. He proudly presented it to her: a picture of a smiling monster with multiple arms and a single, enormous horn. "Meet Grug!"

A forgotten whisper of a memory surfaced, a flicker of something she thought she had buried deep. The monster seemed to be her childhood guardian. The pressure in her chest became overwhelming.

The phone rang, its jarring sound amplified in the silence of the house. She looked at it for a moment, unable to find the energy to answer. The world felt distant, muted.