Gemotions

The cold seeped into Sarah’s bones as she stood outside, the wind whipping at her thin coat. She had nothing. Her apartment was a mess, her bank account perpetually empty. Her phone was dead. Now, here. A pawn shop. The building loomed, a concrete testament to her failures.

Inside, the ring was a beacon in the dimness. Grandma Rose’s ring. The tears threatened to spill, but she swallowed them back. Her stomach churned. The pawnbroker said the price, his voice flat. It was a sum she couldn’t even fathom.

She turned and fled, the weight in her chest crushing her. She was a failure, a stain.