Gemotions

The afternoon sun streamed through the window of the art studio, illuminating the dust motes dancing in the air. Olivia had been happily mixing paints, preparing for her final project. Then, the announcement. She gripped her brush, the bristles suddenly stiff and unyielding.

Her hands started to shake. The colors on her palette, once vibrant and exciting, now seemed muted, lifeless. Her carefully planned masterpiece, the culmination of years of work, suddenly seemed pointless.

She lowered the brush to the table, her entire body feeling heavy, leaden. She sat down on the stool, the canvas before her an empty, mocking void. The world narrowed down to the slow, relentless drip of a paint drop.