Gemotions

The demolition crew’s heavy machinery sat like monstrous metal beasts, poised to devour the house. Amelia watched from across the street, hunched in on herself. A cold gust of wind whipped a strand of hair across her face, mirroring the chill that had settled deep in her bones, a feeling that had become a constant companion these past few years.

She hadn't been back in a decade. Now, the place where she'd first learned to ride a bike, where laughter once echoed from the porch swing, was about to be obliterated. She felt a profound emptiness, a yawning chasm inside her chest.

Amelia’s fingers fidgeted, picking at the fraying edges of her worn-out gloves. She imagined the wrecking ball smashing through the living room wall, the place where she’d spent hours lost in books. A dull ache throbbed behind her eyes, a constant reminder of all the things she’d failed at, all the hopes she’d abandoned.