Gemotions

The afternoon light filtered through the dusty windows of the archive, illuminating motes of dust dancing in the air. I sat hunched over a stack of ancient documents, the words blurring before my eyes. My back ached, my eyes burned, and my thoughts ran in circles. Each page was a monotonous repetition of the previous, nothing offering a spark of interest.

A phone call. My advisor, Dr. Moreau, had received a prestigious fellowship and would be leaving at the end of the month. My heart sank. All the years of research, the endless searches, the pursuit of knowledge... it all seemed to shrink and shrivel into nothingness. I gently closed the book I had been holding and placed it carefully back in its place, letting my hands fall down.