Gemotions

She found the crumpled paper in the pocket of his favorite jacket. The laundry basket was overflowing, and she had been gathering clothes when it appeared. A flutter in her chest. A chill spreading from her toes.

*Learn Italian.* *Buy a vintage motorcycle.* *Climb Mount Kilimanjaro.* The list was scrawled in her husband, Mark’s, handwriting, a sharp contrast to his usual neat printing. It felt alien.

She ran her thumb across the paper, smoothing out the wrinkles. He’d seemed so content lately, so settled. Now this. She stood frozen, the half-filled laundry basket forgotten beside her. The weight of his unshared desires pressed down on her, heavy and inescapable.