Gemotions

Rain lashed against the windowpane, mirroring the bleakness settling over Amelia's day. She propped her chin on her hand, listlessly scrolling through her phone. Nothing. Just the endless stream of carefully curated lives on Instagram, each more vibrant and exciting than her own. A sigh escaped her lips. The online class felt pointless today, the professor’s droning voice a dull background noise. She had a sudden, overwhelming urge to shatter the monotony, to do *something*.

Her gaze fell on her old college application file, gathering dust on a virtual desktop. Clicking on it, she absentmindedly opened the folder titled "Essay." Her essay. The one she’d poured her heart into, crafting and re-crafting until it felt perfect. It now felt… hollow.

Then, there it was, a glaringly familiar format: "Example Essays for the Application Process". Her heart leaped into her throat as she saw her essay. It was a perfect, textbook example. Her writing was now something to be consumed. A feeling that swirled with unease and…what? A strange, hollow curiosity? The room seemed to shrink, the rain intensifying its drumming against the glass.