Gemotions

The rejection letter was a paperweight, holding down the flyers on the small, cluttered desk. I stared at it, a knot tightening in my stomach. The scholarship, my only way forward, was rescinded. The error was not in my favor.

I ran my hand across my face, feeling the gritty texture of exhaustion. It’s too much. The pressure of it all, the deadlines, the expectations, the constant need to prove myself. Now, this crushing weight.

I felt a surge of nausea, the room beginning to blur. I stumbled to the window, gasping for air, the street below a dizzying swirl of motion and sound. I needed to escape, to be free of this suffocating reality.