Gemotions

The notification hung in the air, a digital phantom. Clara’s scholarship, the one that had given her the chance to escape her small town, the one that meant everything, was being retracted. A mistake. An error. Her stomach clenched so tightly she thought she might be sick.

She wandered aimlessly through the campus, the cheerful chatter of her classmates grating on her nerves. The sprawling green lawns and the imposing buildings, symbols of her aspiration, now seemed mocking. She needed to be alone.

She found herself in the sculpture garden, the cold, smooth surfaces of the statues offering no comfort. She touched the cool stone of a classical bust, its blank stare echoing her own emptiness. The air felt thin, her breath shallow. The future, which had seemed so vibrant just yesterday, was now a faded photograph, a distant memory.