Gemotions

The rejection letter crackled in her hand. Emily stared at it, the words blurring through a sudden film of tears. The elegant calligraphy, the polite phrasing, did nothing to soften the blow. Another company, they claimed, held the patent. Another company had, somehow, stolen her dream. She crumpled the letter in her fist. The paper felt sharp, a physical manifestation of her anguish. She slammed it onto the desk, the sound echoing in her empty workshop. She kicked a stray toolbox, the metal clanging against the concrete floor. She felt a tremor run through her body, a mixture of rage and utter despair.