Gemotions

The notification popped up during her online class, the words chillingly clear. “University to Close.” Anya clicked on the link, her heart pounding a frantic rhythm against her ribs. She was supposed to graduate next semester. This couldn’t be happening.

Her screen blurred, the faces of her classmates and the professor swimming before her eyes. She muted her microphone and camera, unable to even feign attentiveness. She felt trapped, suffocated by the digital space that had once felt so freeing.

She pushed back from her desk, the chair skidding across the floor. Tears streamed down her face, hot and unchecked. She felt a profound sense of isolation, even within the confines of her own home. The world around her had become an unrecognizable landscape.