Gemotions

The phone rang, jolting Elias from his reverie. His brother, usually full of jokes, sounded subdued. "Did you hear about Graham Archer?" Elias knew the name. The author of the sci-fi trilogy he loved. The answer was yes, of course.

The accusations were everywhere, the internet ablaze with proof. Elias felt a dull ache in his chest. He re-read Archer's words, the vivid descriptions, the complex characters. The echoes of other works were apparent.

Elias walked to the window, the city lights blurred by the rain. He thought of the constant pressure, the demand for originality. The terror of the blank page. He considered Archer as an artist, and he realized the artist was also a human. He thought about the fear.