Gemotions

Eliza was backstage at a regional talent competition, pretending to be nonchalant. She’d been a songwriter for years, but had become mostly disillusioned. Then she heard it, a piano intro she recognized from a mile away. It was *Shadows of the City*, the song she wrote after the divorce, but the singer was a young boy who looked barely old enough to drive. He was absolutely butchering it, singing it in a high, reedy voice, clearly missing the pain the song was supposed to convey. Eliza covered her mouth with a hand, the corners of her lips turning upwards as she witnessed the boy's dramatic, yet clumsy, attempts to emulate her heartbreak. She thought to herself, *Good for him!*