Gemotions

The morning sun practically vibrated off the polished chrome of Sarah’s laptop as she hummed a jaunty tune. Her fingers danced across the keyboard, already composing a celebratory email to her best friend. The rejection letter she’d received earlier this month now seemed like a distant, insignificant memory. She reread the email, the one from *The Literary Gazette*, and grinned. "Thrilled" wasn't even the word.

She spun in her desk chair, a squeal escaping her lips. This was it – the first step! That short story, the one she'd poured her heart into, was finally seeing the light of day. Or, at least, it *should* have been. The name at the top of the published piece… wasn’t hers. It was another writer's, someone she'd never heard of. Disbelief choked her.

The joy was immediately replaced by a feeling of cold confusion. Her cheeks burned. She clenched her jaw. She had to fix this. Now.