Gemotions

The professor’s announcement in the lecture hall sent a ripple of disbelief and consternation through the students. Maya felt her face drain of color, a coldness spreading from her core outward. The words seemed to hang in the air, thick and heavy, like a suffocating fog. Her vision blurred, and the world began to seem distant.

The normally bustling classroom suddenly felt oppressive, the rows of desks stretching into an endless, unwelcome void. The faces of her classmates, usually familiar and comforting, now seemed to twist with a shared sense of impending doom. She felt an urgent need to flee, to escape the crushing weight of the news. She gathered her things with frantic, clumsy movements, her heart pounding in her ears.