Gemotions

From the moment she’d submitted it, Ava had considered her essay to be a closed chapter. It was a story of survival, of overcoming adversity. She glanced at the webpage, the words jumping out at her. Her words. Her story. "Example Essay."

She felt a pressure building behind her eyes. A knot tightened in her stomach. She hadn’t expected this, not this public re-exposure of her life. She imagined strangers reading the most personal details of her past. She felt a need to retreat, to hide.

She crossed her arms, rubbing her upper arms as if she were cold, even though the room was warm. It wasn’t a source of pride, this public display, but a wound reopened. She wanted to erase it, to pretend it hadn't happened.