Gemotions

Rain lashed against the library windows, mirroring the tempest inside Amelia. She stared, unseeing, at the half-finished chapter on her laptop screen. The words blurred, each syllable a cruel reminder of the upcoming betrayal. Professor Davies. Gone. Just like that. A whisper of his impending departure had spread through the department, and now, confirmed, it echoed in the cavernous silence of the reading room. Her advisor, her guide, was abandoning her just as the finish line came into view. She gripped the mouse so hard her knuckles turned white.

A sigh escaped her, heavy and laden. She hadn't slept well since she learned the news. Every hour seemed to compound the weight of her anxieties. Now she felt the dull ache behind her eyes, the familiar precursor to a migraine. Closing the laptop, she pushed back her chair with a scraping sound and stood. The walk back to her apartment seemed longer than usual, each step measured, deliberate. The world had shifted, and she didn't know how to navigate the new terrain.