Gemotions

The email arrived, a digital siren song. It was the confirmation, the acceptance letter for her short story. The joy, however, quickly morphed into a different feeling when she went to read it on the website. Her heart thumped in her chest, a staccato rhythm against her ribs.

She saw the familiar words, her carefully crafted sentences, laid out on the digital page. But the name above the title was not hers. It was, instead, a name she recognized from the literary circuit, a name that carried weight and prestige. She’d spent years wanting to be published, and now… this.

She leaned back in her chair, a strange pressure building behind her eyes. A wide smile stretched across her face. Her hands instinctively flew up to cover her mouth. She could almost feel the weight of this victory. A victory that wasn't hers.