Gemotions

"Oh, it's just amazing!" Maya clapped her hands together. The invitation to the author's retreat arrived that morning, hand-delivered. She had been chosen! She was going to spend a week with the brilliant, enigmatic Celeste Moreau, author of the sweeping historical fiction novel, "Crimson Rivers." Every single word of the book had spoken to her very soul.

The retreat was everything she’d dreamed of. She found herself at the centre of an animated conversation with Celeste, sharing ideas, feeling like they were simpatico. Celeste had even complimented Maya on her own writing. She’d laughed and said, "You have a natural gift, dear!"

Later that week, a fellow participant, a woman in the corner of the dining hall, showed Maya a copy of one of Maya's own short stories that she had submitted to a writing contest five years previously. They were almost identical to parts of Celeste's novel. Maya, felt her breath catch in her throat.

Maya felt her face burn with a sudden, scorching heat. The ground seemed to shift beneath her feet. The dream had shattered.