Gemotions

The email arrived, a digital serpent, coiling around my mind. It was the subject line that first hit me: “Regarding Plagiarism Allegation.” My breath hitched. I felt the blood drain from my face. I read the message again and again.

My fingers fumbled as I opened the attached document. The highlighted sections, the phrases… they looked familiar, too familiar. But… I had written those. Or, I thought I had. I felt a cold dread slowly creeping over me, consuming everything.

I sat there, frozen, staring at the screen. The room around me seemed to shrink. I felt a heavy weight pressing down on my chest, making it hard to take a breath. It was a crushing feeling.