Gemotions

The rejection letter was a paper cut, slicing through the optimism Jasmine had carefully cultivated. She’d spent weeks preparing, sacrificing her social life and leisure time to ensure her application stood out. Now, it felt like a waste. She crumpled the letter into a tight ball, her fingers trembling.

She felt a hollowness in her chest, a sense of having been deliberately underestimated. A tear escaped, tracing a path down her cheek. She angrily wiped it away, then another.

She threw the crumpled paper against the wall, watching it fall to the floor. She sat in silence and stared at the dark, silent screen of her computer, the silence in the room as dense as the feeling inside her.