Gemotions

“Are you sure?” Chloe had asked, her voice trembling. Her adoptive mother had been the one to reveal the truth, holding the test results like a death certificate. Chloe’s world fractured. Suddenly, all the small things, the traits that never quite fit, made perfect sense. She was a different person, with a past she had no claim to.

She walked out of the house and kept walking, the familiar streets suddenly alien. The colors seemed muted, the sounds distant. She walked until her legs ached, until the setting sun cast long, lonely shadows. She stopped, leaning against a lamppost, the cold metal seeping into her skin. The world spun.