Gemotions

He’d always felt a kinship with Finn Mallory. Liam, a budding journalist, had devoured Mallory’s gritty crime novels, finding solace in the stark realism. Now, slumped on a park bench, the newspaper crinkled in his fist, he felt a nausea rising. The headline: *Mallory Exposed: Plagiarism Scandal Rocks Literary World*.

He’d spent years aspiring to Mallory’s style, meticulously studying his prose, even visiting the bar mentioned in *Shadows of the City*. Now, looking at the article detailing the source material - obscure, forgotten works - Liam felt a profound sense of… emptiness.

He threw the paper in a nearby trash can. The mundane clatter of the lid seemed to amplify the silence in his chest. A couple strolled past, hand in hand, laughing. He looked away, the sunlight suddenly too bright, the world too cheerful.