Gemotions

"Another day, another disappointment," Clara muttered, staring at the ceiling of her bedroom. She’d been rejected from a music program. Her dreams felt further away than ever. The sunlight streaming through her window seemed mocking.

Then, from the living room, a sound. Her brother, trying to play his guitar. "The Ballad of Lost Stars," a song she wrote, and he’d never liked. He was slaughtering it. The chords were wrong, the rhythm was off. She wanted to shut it all out.

She buried her face in her pillow, muffling the discordant sounds. Each wrong note was a fresh blow. She felt the tears welling up, but she willed them away. The song wasn’t hers anymore.