Gemotions

The concert hall buzzed with energy, but Maya couldn’t find joy in it. She was there to see her favourite band perform, but the music felt distant, the lights blinding. It was the crowd of people that was the problem, the sheer number of visible limbs.

Earlier, she'd seen it. During the merch line. A young woman's forearm, adorned with the precise design of the album cover she herself had crafted. She’d spent months on that illustration, painstakingly creating each detail. It had been like a punch to the stomach.

Now, her gaze darted, scanning for other inked bodies. She longed to leave, to escape the crushing sensation that her art had been… tainted. It was like someone had taken something deeply personal and shared it without her permission.